


Tourner Dans Le Vide

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF!Stiles, Big Bang, Dimension Travel, Fantasy, Kate Argent Warning, M/M, Magic!Stiles, Trigger Warning: Drowning, fairytale AU, mentions of torture, there are so many people in this thing I'm not listing them all, there will be more tags inside because I don't want this thing getting huge, trigger warning: breif self harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-04-08 19:01:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 121,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4316088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <strong>UNBETA'D and massively long, you have been warned</strong>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Once upon a time, there was a boy who wore a red hood, he took a wolf into his home and that wolf became a man, this is the story of this boy and his wolf who started a war and fell in love, but there's much more to it than that, because you see magic is a finicky thing that can hold both beauty and danger, and this boy and his wolf better hope their love story survives, as history has taught us, a broken heart can lead to the most dangerous magic of all, it can lead to the biggest sin, it can lead to becoming darkness, falling into the empty void, it can lead to <em>Tourner Dans Le Vide</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolouge: Once Upon A Time

**Author's Note:**

> **Unbeta'd**
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> I know the formatting is off and I apologize for that, also if the spelling isn't on point, I'm sorry, I hope you can get past the errors and enjoy the fic anyway, I really poured my heart and soul into this monster <3
> 
> Art here http://archiveofourown.org/collections/SterekHavenBigBang/works/4320084 done by the lovely writerdragonfly http://writerdragonfly.tumblr.com/ ! Thank you so much for the lovely peices!
> 
> So the thing is that this beast is massively long and I don't want to make the preveiw look horrifying with monster tag sections so some tags may be found inside only, check the top notes of the chapters for any!
> 
> Massive brownie points to anyone who can catch the tons of fairytale references!

Once upon a time, there was a group of people

A group of sinners

A group of wishers

A group of mourners

A group of fighters

A group of lovers

And each of them watched their world go up in flames

Once upon a time, a prince was kept in the dark about the sins of his father

Once upon a time, a witch lost his mother, and tried all too hard to keep ahold of his father

Once upon a time, a mermaid gave up her voice for a chance at true love, and found herself stranded on the land

Once upon a time, a girl found herself caught in the web of death that her parents wove, and that her heart begged to be pulled away from

Once upon a time, a wolf watched his family burn to ash in front of him

Once upon a time, greed set a path that lead to a beanstalk, that lead to a fire

Once upon a time, a witch committed a terrible sin, and in order to make the aching stop in his heart, he traded away every ounce of light in his body

Once upon a time, a queen longed for a child, and made a deal to get one, but lost another child in his place

Once upon a time, a witch longed for a child, and made a deal to get one, and stole another child in his place

Once upon a time, a war was started due to greed and anger that would forever change the world

A war that started the hatred humans have for magic, and the fear that magic holds from humans

These people who have lost and traded and burned want to stop that war, but to do that, they'll have to start a new one entirely

A fight for love, for freedom, for life

And it all started, once upon a time.....


	2. Big Bad Wolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, a witch met a werewolf, it all went downhill from there...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we have the actual meat of this story beginning

Breath was heavy and panting, feet stomped and slammed against the ground as he forced himself to go faster.... further.... further.... faster.... at this point his breathing was all he could hear as he kept on, he had to keep on... he had to... the hunters were onto him, they were going to catch up.... he howled suddenly as an arrow landed and peirced just beneath his ribcage, sending him spiraling down into a row of rose bushes, the soft smell brought him no comfort, all he could concentrate on were the thorns... he was going to die... this was it, this was where and how he was going to die.... as a prize for the hunters that took his family from him... he heard twigs snap and slowly turned his head to see a young man in a red hooded cloak, who was quite clearly not with the hunters, step closer, "Shhh... it's ok Big Bad Wolf... I've got you," he said softly, the wolf could feel himself beginning to slip, losing his grip on the waking world, and as his eyes closed he could distinctly remember feeling a sudden surge of energy, like a spell being cast, and staring into that set of warm brown eyes....

~+~

It wasn't like he made an ACTUAL habit of it, rescuing werewolves and animals and other odd creatures that he happened to find in distress, but it had become almost a sort of... compulsion.... he saw one and just couldn't help himself, luckily this compulsion hadn't gotten him killed (yet) but it was only a matter of time before something dangerous came of it, of all the many times danger SHOULD have come from one of these bizarre rescue missions, he certainly didn't think that it would have been this time... "You're alright now," he soothed the wolf softly, running his fingers through the thick black fur and leaning against the wall, his eyes were heavy and his mind was foggy, he had been healing this poor thing for the better part of an hour and to say he was exhausted was putting it mildly, he usually tried to stay awake until his paitients were awake enough to understand that they were in a safe place- that they weren't about to be hurt or killed- but he was so tired... and this wolf seemed so deep in sleep.... he yawned and felt his head droop and his eyes close against his will, well... maybe dozing off for just a quick moment would be ok....

It was more than just a quick moment though, it turned into several long hours in fact, but he still managed to wake up before the wolf did, and by the time the wolf happened to wake he was feeling groggy and fuzzy-headed, he looked around slowly, no sign of anyone else there... he glanced at the door and started to inhale but winced at the pain that radiated through his body, glancing the best he could out of the window, he saw the man from before- who he vaguely remembered as having something to do with him at some point- by a garden picking some herbs, it was for the better of both of their interests that he leave, not only would the innocent human not get dragged into it at that point, but Derek wouldn't get conned again in case it WASN'T such an innocent human after all.... so he struggled to get up on his back-feet and shift into his human form, turning the handle on the door, walking out slowly, silently, and hoping he would be long gone by the time the man arrived back

"Hey! You're awake!" Obviously, Derek's plan failed, "Oh man I'm so glad to see that, you've been out for a wile now and I was really starting to get worried," he said with a soft, awkward smile, "Thank you for healing me, but I really have to be going now," he said quietly, starting to walk again, "Oh.. hey, no you can't leave like this, you'll die in a minute if a hunter or something sees you," he said, stepping in front of Derek and putting his hands out cautiously, as if to try to turn Derek back towards the cabin, "I'll be fine, you should be worried about yourself," he muttered, "And why is that?" the man frowned, "You're aiding and abetting a werewolf, that can't be good for your record," he muttered back, making an attempt to leave again... only to feel completely paralyzed from the waist down.... his heart sank, his face drained of color, and he stared back over his shoulder at the one who had healed him, "I think if anyone would be in trouble here it'd be YOU," he mused, "You're.... a witch...?" Derek breathed, he had never met one before, but he had heard of them, well more specifically, he had heard of their immense power, sure there were gifted Wiccans and Sparks all over the place but a real, pure blooded WITCH? He may as well have stumbled across a unicorn.... a deadly, homicidal, devious unicorn...... "Don't be afraid, I just want to help," he said softly, releasing his hold on Derek's legs and ushering him back to the cottage, "I don't want you getting caught again, you need to heal first and even with your werewolf healing it'll still be a few hours atleast, if not a day or two," "Why do you care?" Derek frowned, the witch shrugged vaguely, not answering him as he walked over to the fireplace and tossed some extra wood in, "I'm Stiles, by the way," he offered, Derek hesitated, he almost never gave out his name these days... "Derek," it felt foreign in his mouth, Stiles nodded thoughtfully, lighting the fire and walking back over to him, "Well Derek, I hope you didn't have anything important to do in the forest, you'll be with me until you're healed and that could be a wile," he repeated, Derek sighed, watching as the witch went back to what he could assume was the herb garden, "No ofcourse, why would I have anything important to do?" he muttered to himself sarcastically, Derek had never met a real witch before Stiles, but there was already something about the species that made him feel vulnerable in a way that he hadn't felt since he was a child.... and he didn't like it, not one bit....

~+~

"So, what happened?" Derek had been awake for maybe an hour and he was so silent that Stiles had to keep looking over his shoulder to make sure he was still breathing- every single time he looked Derek was staring at him... intensely.... "With what?" Derek replied gruffly, "You know.... the hunter thing? How did they find you?" there was a short pause, "They found my home, I was forced to run," "What? Aw man... how'd that happen? Do you have any idea how they found your home?" Stiles frowned, turning away from the soup he was making and leaning against the counter behind him, "They probbably tracked me through my sister," he said quietly, looking away for the first time since waking up, "You have a sister?" Stiles frowned slightly, "Two sisters actually," Derek muttered back, Stiles nodded thoughtfully, seeming to think about that for a moment, "And ... do the hunters have them both?" "No, I... I actually don't know if they even have one of them... Laura went missing a few weeks ago and now suddenly the hunters found me, it seems like the most reasonable connection to make," "Right... and what about your other sister? Do you...?" "I don't know for sure... she went missing the day before my family was massacred," "Massacred?" Stiles echoed in shock, leaning away from the counter, "A fire," "Right," he muttered back, a heavy, somewhat tense silence fell on the pair before Stiles finally stepped forward, reaching his hand out to touch Derek's shoulder, only for the werewolf to flinch away, the witch inhaled and withdrew his hand, trying not to take it personally, "I'm really sorry to hear that... I probbably don't know how you feel entirely but... I can understand how cruel hunters can be," Derek glanced up at him, scoffing slightly, "And how is that?" "They killed my mom," he replied, shrugging and not missing a beat, Derek swallowed, the vulnerable feeling starting to slowly creep back into him, "I... how?" and really, he hadn't MEANT to ask how, it was insensitive and cruel to even ask Stiles to reflect long enough to tell him, but he had never met anyone else who had had their family taken by hunters before and he was at a complete loss for anything else to say, "Poisen, they couldn't PROVE that Mom was a witch so they slipped Mountain Ash in her tea one morning, it was a slow, painfull death," Derek could feel his jaw tense, atleast... at the very, extremely least, his family.... they may have gone up in flames but in comparison to something like that it was a short ordeal... Derek couldn't even fathom what it must have been like for Stiles to watch- and he assumed he watched, or otherwise he wouldn't have mentioned how slow and painfull it was- his mother die in front of him, coughing up inky black blood and slowly losing her mind, as the effect of Mountain Ash had on witches, he had seen it once before... it was the cruelest fate for a witch, akin to forcing a werewolf to swallow Wolfsbane, "How old were you?" he asked quietly, "Eight, you?" "..... Seventeen," and Derek felt like he suddenly had all the air punched out of his lungs, at seventeen and away at the market Derek had lost nearly his entire family, arriving back to their ashes on the ground, but at nearly a full ten years YOUNGER than that, Stiles had lost his mother, likely sitting right beside her, watching her die and being unable to do anything about it, for the first time since the fire, Derek wondered what was crueler, "I... have sisters.... do you have any other family?" Derek asked hopefully, "Just my dad but... he went missing about three weeks ago," Stiles confessed, "He went missing.... three weeks ago?" Derek frowned, "Yeah... why?" "That's the same time Laura went missing.... your father, is he a witch too?" "Nah, that's just me and my mom, Dad's a normal human, a sheriff in fact, he went out to help someone a few towns away and never came back, I can't track him with magic either," "And I can't track Laura's scent," there was a small pause, "Are you thinking... what I'm thinking?" Stiles asked slowly, "That we should band together and help eachother find our lost family members?" Derek guessed, Stiles smirked slightly and nodded, "Yeah, that's about right," Derek nodded, beginning to smirk, "You have a deal," "Awesome! And since you OBVIOUSLY can't go home, you can stay here for as long as you want," Stiles grinned, "You really don't have to do that," Derek warned immediately, "I know, that's what makes me so nice," Stiles smirked, "I just can't let my partner in family finding sleep out in the cold now can I?" Derek rolled his eyes but didn't argue, watching as Stiles turned the stove off and started going for the bowls, "Just trust me Derek, this .... this is going to be a good thing, for both of us, I can't tell you how I know that but I feel it, deep in my bones... I feel it...."


	3. Little Red And The Huntsman's Axe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, the huntsmen came and took away The Big Bad Wolf...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the story progresses sort of quickly but considering it's over 100K as it is I found that to be a necessary evil

"What's that face for?" Derek looked over his shoulder as soon as he heard Stiles' voice, watching as the witch judgementally pointed a carrot at him, "Nothing, I was just thinking... you grow all of your food yourself?" he asked curiously, "Oh... um, no, no I can only do the gardening, and it's ANNOYING too, because I have VERY limited income- all I can really do is make potions and sell spells so unless I'm selling I'm not eating ya' know?- and I have to use that income for things like bread and dairy and... meat is a LUXURY, like maybe once a week? And I also have to keep semi-decent clothes and keep around things like pouches and bottles to sell my stuff in, and sometimes I need rarer ingredients for potions, wich really sucks, so nope, basically I've been forced nearly into being a vegitarian," Derek frowned, standing slowly and approaching him, "You don't hunt? Or bake? Or... can't your magic do all of that for you?" he asked in confusion, after all, he was standing beneath a parade of vegtables cutting themselves into rings and then falling into the magically boiling pot below, it didn't seem to him like making bread rise or getting eggs from a chicken would be that much harder, "Um, no, see, that's not how magic works," Stiles replied, shooing him away from the stove and back to where he had been reading before, "How does it work then?" Derek asked with sincere curiosity, "Well.. all magic is about give and take, that's why I can't just randomly summon gold or something, because that gold has to come from someone else, and for the record, witches who DO summon gold and riches get caught and burned pretty quickly and I'm not a fan of being burned alive, so there's also that, but ... just like you can't manifest an object without it coming from somewhere else, you also can't manifest an ability without actually HAVING it, unless you use a potion, but in that case you're either bargaining with nature or stealing someone else's talents but I won't get into that, so like... say I wanted to use magic for sewing, I can't sew- AT ALL, I tried to put a button on my dad's jacket once and ended up ruining the jacket, but I digress, if I wanted to sew something with magic, then ok, I could use magic to do things like threading the needle and keeping the fabric in place and stuff, but unless I actually know HOW to sew it's not going to work, it'll just be the needle poking at the fabric, it'd be like having the sheet music to a song and the voice to sing it with but not knowing the words, you can't sing without the words," "So then you're naturally good at gardening but nothing else?" Derek guessed, "Um, yes to the gardening, thank you, but wow, rude, I'm not BAD at the other stuff ok? I just don't have the money to TRY it, like to get eggs I'd need chickens, to get milk I'd need a cow, that sort of thing, and guess what cows and chickens do? Cows and chickens eat, Derek, and if I don't have money to feed MYSELF, I definately don't have money to feed other animals," he explained, "Is that why you don't have a horse?" Derek guessed, "I HAD a horse, my dad took her into the next town with him when he dissappeared, so now on top of not having money to go to town with, I also have to walk there and back whenever I DO venture in," he said with a longing sigh, going back to his stew, "I ... bake," Derek said slowly, "Huh?" Stiles asked innocently, turning back around, "I... I bake, I'm a baker, my shop has probbably been overrun with hunters by now so I can't go back but... if you can get me the raw ingredients... wheat, sugar, that sort of thing... I could bake things for you, like bread and ... pastries, if you have fruit I can make pies and the like," Stiles grinned from ear to ear and nodded eagerly, "Ofcourse I have fruit! Oh man wow, you're really saving my hide here!" "You saved mine first," Derek muttered shyly, "... That's true," Stiles considered, "I also might be able to help you with something else," "Oh yeah? What?" Stiles asked as he turned back to the food once again, "Getting another horse,"

~+~

"I STILL can't believe you know how to tame horses," Stiles said with an excited grin, kicking his legs back and forth as he leaned closer to the stove from his position on the counter, "It isn't... it isn't like I BREAK them or anything like humans do.... animals seem to like me, for some reason, animals and children.... but adults can't stand me ofcourse," he sighed, "Awww.... but atleast the TRUE measurers of worth like you!" Stiles grinned, Derek just rolled his eyes, finishing peeling the apples and starting to slice them to go in the pie he was making, "Seriously though, you're really going to take me to catch a wild horse tommorrow?" Stiles asked seriously, leaping down from the counter, "You say it as if we're going to take one against their will.... but yes," Derek sighed, "I'll take you tommorrow to get a wild horse," "That... that is going to be SO COOL! I mean, like, don't get me wrong, Rachel was GREAT an' all, but just clearly kind of a broken old creature-" "Wait wait wait..... you named your horse RACHEL?" Derek asked in shock, "Yeah well I was four when I named her," he shrugged, as if that actually helped his case, Derek just shook his head, going back to his apples, "I'm naming this one," "Says who!?" "The guy who's ACTUALLY getting you the horse?" there was a pause, "Ok, point taken,"

~+~

"Is my silence REALLY that necessary?" Stiles sighed, if the glare Derek was giving him was anything to go by then yes, he was willing to say, yes it was, so with great reluctance Stiles shut up and watched the wild horses graze in the feild in front of them, he had to admit, it wasn't as... thrilling.... as he thought it'd be, Stiles had been expecting some big adventure involving magical rope and funny looking hats set to a music montage in his head, what he had, however, was sitting in the bushes watching horses eat grass, it was actually extremely boring after the first minute and a half, but, because Stiles was just THAT awesome, he managed to stop himself from yawning and only occassionally started counting grass blades or testing his ability to stare directly into the sun (and he only blinded himself once this time!), "This is her," Derek said suddenly, jolting Stiles out of his sun-gazing stupor, "Jeez... warn a person," he muttered, Derek didn't even answer, he just crawled- no, literally the guy _CRAWLED_ \- forward and extended his hand, and sure enough, to Stiles' utter shock and amazement, the horse leaned down and nuzzled Derek's palm, "Dude...." he breathed, "Hold out your palm," Derek demanded, Stiles didn't even argue, he held his palm out anxiously and the horse stared at him, the gaze of the larger creature made his heart skip a beat in worry, and then, much to his releif, the horse leaned down and nuzzled his palm as well, "She accepts you," Derek said with a small shrug, "Oh AWESOME! You and I are going to be best freinds Buddy, I think I'm gonna name you Isabella!" he cooed, Derek rolled his eyes, for once he was actually missing the idiotic names people picked for their horses because this was getting out of hand, but he didn't say anything, he just let Stiles and- _Isabella_ \- head on back to the cottage in silence (or silence on Derek's end, Stiles was a never ending conversation that only ever shut up long enough to put food in his mouth) he supposed though that it was well worth it, after all Stiles was offering him something he hadn't had an exceedingly long time: Companionship

~+~

"I can't believe I have a WILD HORSE now," Stiles said with an excited grin and a happy bounce as he watched Derek prepare the pie ingredients, "Just be carefull not to abuse this newfound power," Derek teased, watching as Stiles used his magic to start peeling the apples, "Stiles..." "Hm?" "Explain something to me...." "Sure," "You said earlier you weren't a fan of being burned at the stake... why can't witches escape from that? Or heal from it? It isn't that you would have to manifest a skill or an object, can't you just... make the rope come undone or levitate or something to get away?" he asked in confusion, "You know, you're the first person who's ever asked me about that? Thank you," Stiles hummed, starting to slice the apples as Derek prepared the dough, "You're welcome...?" he replied in confusion, "See, little thing witches don't like to tell other people, we can't use magic on ourselves," Derek squinted, staring at him with a frown, "What do you mean?" "I mean... ok so let's say I had a cut on my arm, I can't use my magic to heal it, another witch could use THEIR magic, I just can't use my own, or let's say I wanted to grow wings, easy spell for another witch, but I can't to do it to myself," "Why not?" Derek asked curiously, "Well my mom used to say it was because, if we could do that, witches would have too much power, that we'd be immortal and this and that... wich, you know, is true, but over time learning about witchcraft I picked up... sort of a theory," he mused, grabbing an unpeeled apple and tossing it into the air, "A theory?" Derek echoed, "Yeah, I think... magic comes from inside every witch, you can't BECOME a witch like you can BECOME a werewolf, you're either born with it or you aren't, so magic has to be born inside you right? What if that magic had to be channeled to be used? Like ... an electrical spark, there has to be a little bit of room, a place for it to go, it can't just stay bottled up right? So maybe the reason we can't use magic on ourselves is because it would be like... recycling magic? You know, taking a spark of magic out of one place and putting it back in the same place instead of somewhere different, maybe it's a self-defense mechanism so we won't accidentally poisen ourselves with toxic or used magic.... am I making sense?" he asked, Derek stared at him for a moment, smiling softly and nodding as he laid the dough out on the table, "You are, but you only answered half of my question, why can't you just levitate or undo the ropes or something?" "Oh.. well, first of all, fun fact, witches can't actually levitate for long periods of time ourselves, it might go back to the 'recycled magic' idea or it just might be because we're heavy, that's why we have to enchant objects like brooms to levitate FOR us instead of levitating directly most of the time, plus doing much of anything with your hands bound is kind of hard to pull off because alot of magic includes hand gestures, and untying ropes? Not actually a strong suit for most witches because you have to see the knot to know wich way to direct your magic," he explained, Derek nodded thoughtfully, humming to himself, "I see," he muttered vaguely, "How come you're so interested all of a sudden?" Stiles asked curiously, Derek just shrugged, laying the dough in the pan, "Just... curious.... that's all...."

~+~

"I think you should be ready in about... three more days, then we can start the hunt," Stiles mused as he bottled the latest potion he was needing to sell, "Three more days?" Derek huffed, "Yeah, three more days Big Guy, no need for you to rush the process," he insisted, Derek huffed, rolling his eyes and jerking his head up, he heard horses coming this way.... LOTS of them... wich meant only one thing... he swallowed quickly and stood up, moving towards the closet, "Derek? What's wrong?" Stiles asked with concern, "I feel funny," he muttered, Stiles dropped what he was doing and crossed quickly to him, setting a hand on his back and leaning down to peer over him and in one quick motion Derek gripped his arm and swung him forth, into the closet and slammed the door, propping up a chair under the handle, "D-Derek!? Derek what's going on!? Derek!?" he shouted anxiously, wordlessly, Derek walked outside and shifted into his wolf form, he knew the Royal Guard would chase him into the forest.... he knew he wasn't going to get away this time, and he didn't intend to, he knew his life was over... but Stiles... he couldn't let them find him, he couldn't risk them finding him and burning him at the stake, he wasn't going to risk his life and this would detour him, and Stiles, he felt, was a trustworthy person who took every promise seriously, if there was a hope of finding Laura.... Stiles was it.... he had met a good person, been happy these last few days, so he was alright with death, he laid down when the ropes wrapped around him and stared up at the sky, he had made peace with death

Upon hearing the horses stampeding outside Stiles immediately knew what was happening and why Derek had acted so strangely, "Derek!! DEREK!!!" he screamed, pounding desperately on the door, he cursed, he had to get out of here- and he had to get out of here NOW, so, taking a breath, he turned to face the wall and closed his eyes, "Issac!" he called, and when he opened them again, a man had appeared with shaggy light hair and a scowl on his face, "What did you get yourself into now Stillinski?" "Never mind that! Get me out of here- NOW!" he shouted desperately, despite not usually being inclined to do anything Stiles wanted, Issac knew whatever was happening was urgent and easily popped outside, removing the chair and letting him out, "DEREK!! DEREK!!!" Stiles shouted as he ran outside, he looked around, but he didn't see them... it was too late.... he could have dropped down to his nees and cried, he could have greieved and he could have mourned, he could have, but he didn't, instead he turned back to Issac, fists clenched and eyes set in a deep glare, "I need your help," "My help?" "Yes- I'll pay you just... help me," he breathed, "Help you with what exactly?" he asked suspiciously, "I need to find Derek.... I need to rescue my freind from death row,"


	4. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, Stiles made a deal with a faery named Lydia...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're actually starting to introduce depth to the story ladies and gentlemen and non-binary folks, believe it or not it's happening

"Don't forget that you owe me for this," Issac hissed as he wiped his hands on his pants, "I know, I know, I owe you TWICE, just... can you collect AFTER I've rescued the guy that's probbably going to be executed in the MORNING?" Stiles offered with a frustrated huff, "Fine," Issac shrugged, snapping his fingers and dissappearing into thin air, "Remind me why I keep in contact with an incubus?" Stiles groaned, "Beats me," replied the only other person in the surrounding area, he turned on his heel, rolling his eyes as he watched her file her nails, "You know Lydia, you could atleast ACT like you care," "I DO care, I care that you've obviously gotten so attached to this poor werewolf that you've lost your mind and are now going on a suicide mission to rescue him," she replied, blowing on her nails and raking her strawberry blonde hair to the side, "It won't be a suicide mission as long as it WORKS right?" "What's your point?" "Look... all I have to do is infiltrate the ball that the prince is throwing and then find my way down to the dungeon, nock out the guards, spring Derek, and get back here before anyone knows we're gone, then look for a new place to live and haul him with me all the wile looking for my dad and his sister," he paused, groaning loudly, "Yeah, that's ALL you have to do," Lydia scoffed, "BUT! I have a fool proof way of getting into the ball!" he said immediately, she raised her eyebrows, tilting her head and humming a soft "Oh?" he nodded slowly, taking a deep breath, "I'm gonna be a princess,"

~+~

"Is there something wrong Your Highness?" Issac asked with a teasing hum as he rolled onto his stomach and watched the door across the room nearly slam shut, "I'm not going to this ball tonight," he muttered back, stalking towards the bed and pausing, "Issac... don't call my 'your highness'," he added, "Right... sorry... now you know that I hate the political garbage of .. well just about anything in your life... but you have to go to the ball Scott," he said gently, Scott paused, sitting on the bed slowly and shaking his head, "I can't... I can't sell my soul like that... I want to get married for LOVE Issac, not for politics," he sighed, "I know that... but you know how this works," Issac replied, sitting up slowly and moving closer to the prince, "I don't.... I don't want it to work that way," he groaned, shaking his head quickly, "I just want everything to go back to how it was... how it was before Mom left... I just... I thought she was just going away for the weekend you know? For political business? But it's been.... it's been MONTHS and I haven't even heard from her... I think something happened to her Issac, I KNOW it did, but I seem to be the only person who cares," "That isn't true, I care," Issac insisted with a frown, "You know what I mean.. I'm the only one who cares who can DO anything about it... and that's what I'm going to do, I'm going to do something about it, I'm going to find Mom, I'm going to find out what happened to her... that's what I'm going to do," Scott said with determination, "Want some help?" Issac offered, "Ofcourse," Scott nodded, "Then listen to me... you HAVE to go to the ball, you don't have to get married or even pick a suitor but just.... just go, it'll serve as a distraction for what I need to do to find her," he said with a sincere look, "You sure are deadset on this... is there another reason that you want me to go?" he asked innocently, Issac shook his head slowly and stood up, "No, it's... it's nothing, just go to the ball Scott, I'll handle everything else.... I promise,"

~+~

"I'm going to need you to repeat your plan to me, slowly, in a language that I can understand," Lydia said with a deep frown, "You can understand SIX languages Lydia- PICK ONE," Stiles snarked back, running his hands through his hair anxiously, "The king is having a party tonight right? For his son to pick a wife?" ".... It's a ball, but yes, technically, continue," "Alright, so they're letting people in from every surrounding village and kingdom and blah blah blah hoping for some kind of fairytale magic right? So what if I disguise myself as a princess? I'll get into the palace and I can seduce someone there- like a guard or you no the PRINCE- into giving up information on where Derek is, I make myself scarce after coming up with some weird excuse and go set him free, princesses get away with alot just with crocodile tears and a tight corset, I can manipulate the guards into drinking a sleeping potion then set Derek free and we ride off into the sunset, it's fool proof," she sighed, shaking her head slowly, "Ignoring the sexism of that last statement... and keeping in mind that, Stiles, with you nothing is fool-proof, I have to say.... it isn't the worst idea I've ever heard," she mused, Stiles blinked slowly, "Um.... thank you?" she just gave a sharp nod and hopped to her feet, grabbing her wand from behind her, "Now if you're going to be a princess you'll need to look like it, sound like it, and act like it," "Got it," he agreed, "Good, then first, you need to look like a princess..." she sighed, shaking her head slowly, "This is going to alot of work...."

~+~

Derek heaved a long, low sigh, leaning back against the wall of his cell, the layers and layers of different scents were caked onto each stone in the wall, in the floor, in the bars, it was driving him crazy, the sickening smell of blood and death and fear... and the worst part was he couldn't distinguish one from another, if Laura HAD been here.... he couldn't tell.... he laid down on the ground, knowing that traditionally executions for magical beings were a day after their capture, and hoped to atleast sleep and tune out his remaining hours in this hell hole, it was at that moment that he noticed something rather odd, in the corner of his cell was a fingernail... he couldn't get a scent from it, but the chipped peice seemed manicured, that was even stranger.... when would they have had someone so high profile that they had perfect nails in a cell like this? He would never find out, ofcourse, but it was something to ponder wile he waited for death

~+~

"Was the forced bath REALLY necessary!?" Stiles huffed in frustration as he dried himself off, "As a matter of fact it was, now hold perfectly still for me, I do NOT want to get any of this wrong..." she hummed, pointing her wand, "Wait wait WAIT a minute! Don't I need ... STUFF? Like... you know... a dress? And a carriage?" he squeaked, even though this was his plan and he didn't have MUCH problem going through with it... the idea of his body completely changing like that still made him nervous..... "You're right, the dress will come later but you DO need a carriage... some horses.. a coach..." Stiles rolled his eyes but said nothing, Lydia was the one with faery magic here, she more or less called the shots... "Now as for the carriage..." she hummed, looking around the garden and snapping her fingers, "I think a pumpkin will do," "A PUMPKIN?" Stiles cringed, "Well yes, you can't very well ride in a watermelon," she snorted, Stiles rolled his eyes, witches were derived from Fae Folk in their magic, as witch magic was more or less just watered down faery magic, but he would NEVER understand Fae Folk as long as he lived.... she dragged the pumpkin away from the rest of the garden, stood in front of it, and waved her wand, "Into a carriage," she demanded, and so came a carriage from the pumpkin, it was rather impressive, Stiles would give it that... "Now what about the coach and horses?" she hummed, spying an innocent gecko climbing up a vine of tomatos, she rushed forward, cooing to the little animal in some sort of faery speak, and picking up the little wandering reptile, "Into a coachman," she smiled, tapping the little fellow on the nose and setting him in front of the carriage, sure enough, a coachman appeared in the gecko's place moments later, looking very confused at that, "MICE!! Perfect!" Lydia cried excitedly as she ran towards the edge of the house and cleared her throat, "Into four horses~!" she smiled, waving her wand as the mice scrambled to get away, except that the spell took effect before they could and in their places, moments later, were four horses, when Lydia turned her attention back to Stiles, a wicked grin on her face, he knew nothing good could come of it... "I've always wanted to try this spell," "You haven't even TRIED it before!?" Stiles almost screamed, "... I'm sorry, when did we start living in a world where Fae Folk could be free about their powers?" "Right, sorry," he said with a deep breath, Lydia just grinned, pointing her wand, he expected to hear something simple like "Into a woman" or "Into a girl" like she said with the other transformations, but clearly changing someone's anatomy wasn't quite the same because moments later... "Salagadoola," he felt his face tingle, "Mechika boola," he felt the roots of his hair burn, "Bibbidi-" he squeaked when his chest expanded, "Bobbidi-" every inch of skin and much of his muscles were beginning to burn, "-Boo!" .... Stiles didn't even want to think about what just happened to make his thighs feel this awkward or his pelvis feel this terrible, but all of that stopped within a manner of seconds and when Stiles rushed to the river to see a mirror image.... SHE got exactly what she was hoping for, "I'm a girl!" she laughed, voice deep and smooth as ever, Lydia cringed, "Mm... mm-mm, now for your voice," "What's wrong with my voice?" she frowned, "Honey.... princes don't want to marry princesses who can belch the alphabet with them," she said, twirling her wand in her fingers, "Wait... say again?" "You want to seduce someone right? The prince is your best bet, you need to be the PERFECT princess for this, everything and nothing at once, you can't be highborn but you can't ACT as though you were raised in the woods, you can't be void of manners but you can't be overly polite, you must be kind at ALL costs but not submissive, you must be gentle but strong, you must be clever but not brutally intellegent, you must be witty but not too full of yourself, you must be humble but not self-deprecating, you must talk but not too much, you must be able to dance but not be very good at it- YET not so very bad at it that you're stumbling, you must be clumsy but gracefull, you must be cheerfull but not overly happy, you must give the air of being in a terrible situation but ACT as though your life is a gift, are you seeing at all where I'm going with this?" "Yeah, I have to act like I popped out of a box! I have to be a 'dream girl', a 'simple farm girl' right? Someone with no social graces so he takes pity on me and finds me 'quirky' and 'charming' but who isn't SO horrendous that it's offensive, right?" she huffed, "That's right, now sing, if there is ANYTHING you can do to perfection as a 'perfect princess', it's singing, now sing," Stiles sighed, this was going to be a long, long day....

~+~

"Scott, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Scott HATED those words, why? Because those words always brought suffering, he was willing to admit that he found most people genuienly fun to talk to and he was a very social person by nature, but the only people his father EVER wanted him to meet enough to actually tell him that were the people that made Scott question humanity, the ones who made him cringe internally and choke on his words and made him feel like there were bugs beneath the first layer of his skin crawling around in his body, "uncomfortable" was putting it mildly, Scott was never too sure what kind of political opinions his father had, truth be told, he never asked- he was afraid to find out, but the people his father wanted him to meet ... they had their opinions locked and loaded and those opinions were usually what set off the discomfort, although a lack of manners didn't help matters, they always looked down their noses at people, even Scott, wich he- as a prince- found a little odd but never commented on, his mother actually DID raise him to be polite, thank you, "These are the Argents, Chris, Victoria, and their daughter Allison- didn't you say your sister Kate was coming as well?" "Kate was held up at the last minute but she'll be at the ball later," came a man's- Chris's, probbably- voice, Scott took a deep breath, slapped on a smile, and turned around, once he did, the smile stopped being fake, the youngest of the three people, Allison, was stunningly beautifull with long curls the color of milk chocolate and eyes that sparkled like the moon and a smile that shone like the sun, and there may as well have been stars in her dimples for all Scott could see, "They're our new personal task force, our newest hunters, they come from the kingdom east of our's with high honors," his father said, continuing to go on and on about how well respected they were and how Allison was going to be the newest leader of their task force once her training was complete, but Scott lost nearly every word, only turning in wen Allison's name was mentioned and tuning out again once it faded from interest, he and Allison never did get a chance to speak that afternoon, but he didn't care, he was smitten

~+~

"Now that your voice, hair, and clothes are fixed, it's time to work on your personality," Lydia hummed as she stared at Stiles across the garden, Stiles, who was fighting with the dress Lydia forced her into and struggling not to roll around in the grass with it in an attempt to loosen the thing, glared up at her as if she were the personal cause of this current hell, "Ok but how- HOW- do girls wear this? I feel like I have two weights on my chest trying to get pushed into my THROAT," Stiles said bluntly, Lydia sighed, shaking her head slowly, "Thank you for alerting me to your concerns, but princesses do not voice their concerns, not about this anyway, the only things you should be complaining about are things like animal cruelty and hungry orphaned children, maybe throw in deforestation and- if you're feeling bold- GENTLY glaze over the topic of feminism, barely apply pressure, you have NO idea what will set men off when it comes to that," she added with a shiver of what Stiles assumed to be a bad memory, "You know what? Royalty- and especially LADY royalty- is REALLY fu-" "And a princess NEVER curses! Ever! Don't even say the word 'heck', understand?" Stiles felt her eye twitch, "Lydia...." "Yes?" ".... I think I'm gonna gag...." "Princesses don't gag either Stiles,"


	5. At The Stroke Of Midnight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, Stiles turned into a princess and infiltrated a ball...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Major **Kate Argent warning** for this chapter that involves torture so please be advised if you're sensitive to that!

"Do you really think I'm going to be any good at this?" Stiles asked quietly, twirling the fabric of her blood red dress in her fingers, "You're going to be fine Stiles, I promise," she smiled, shutting the carriage door, "I gave you a temporairiy wand of faery magic in case of emergency, can you figure out how to use it?" "I'm pretty sure I can yeah..." "Good, now remember, you MUST be back by midnight, that's when the spell wears off," "Couldn't you have delayed it?" Stiles frowned, "Not really, most of your training had to come in from you being in a female body and as it is now it'll be hard enough to get to the palace and actually get into the ballroom, good luck ok?" she smiled softly, stepping down and snapping her fingers, "WAIT.... a name! You need a fake name! It has to be cute, charming, and different but remaining elegant, somewhat strong but not too much, nothing masculine and it can't be TOO different," she listed, Stiles rolled her eyes, "Well how about Lydia?" the witch smirked, "Very funny, it should start with 'St' so you can remember to respond to it more easily," "Like what?" "Well... Starla is too unique... Stacey is too common... Stephanie might work," "Stephanie? Why don't you just call me Stella?" she snorted, Lydia grinned, snapping her fingers, "That's it! That's the perfect name! Not too common but not too out there.... Stella! And it sounds close enough to Stiles for you to remember easily! Now off with you, and practice your manners on the way there! See you later, STELLA!" Lydia shouted with a grin and a wave as the carriage suddenly took off, Stiles peered out of the window, watching her wave and taking a deep, deep breath, this was going to be a very long night....

~+~

"I just wanted to dance with Allison," Scott sighed softly as he hung his head, "I know," Issac said gently, patting his back, "I don't understand why she can't be there... she's a guard right? Shouldn't she be at an event like this?" "She's not a guard, she's a hunter, there's a massive difference," Issac explained, Scott sighed lower, glancing up at him, "There is?" "Yes ofcourse, don't you remember anything about what your father was telling you about hunters?" Issac frowned, Scott blushed, rubbing the back of his neck, "I was distracted by Allison..." he admitted, "Goodness... so this is what you're like when you're in puppy love," Issac sighed, flopping back on the bed and watching as Scott paced around the room, "I think it's destiny Issac," "Scott.... you KNOW it's not going to work don't you? Hunters and princes... they don't get along, and I'd be weary of hunters if I were you anyway," he pointed out, Scott glanced at him, tilting his head in confusion, "Why?" Issac just shook his head, "... Nothing important, just a personal stance... look, the ball will be starting soon, you need to get down there so you can have a chance at seeing Allison beforehand, she might still be around," he pointed out, Scott grinned, nodding excitedly, "You're right, I'll see you later Issac!" he said, dashing out of the room, Issac stared at the door for a long moment, finally turning away from it, "See you later..."

~+~

"This is rediculous, I shouldn't have to shmooze up to some prince just to rescue a perfectly innocent werewolf," Stiles grumbled to herself as she wandered around the ball, come to think of it, she didn't even know what this mysterious Prince McCall looked like, how was she supposed to sniff him out in a gigantic crowd like this? If she felt more confident using magic tracking him would be a synch, but with all the hunters and guards around it was better to keep the magic under the belt for now, one little slip and she might find herself in a cell next to Derek's instead of rescuing him, now wouldn't THAT be embarrassing? Stiles was resigned to the idea that she was just never going to find the prince in this crowd, maybe she should just set her sights on someone lower, instead of the prince, just any random noble person would do, if nothing else atleast then there'd be an excuse to stay longer, maybe a way to weasel information out of several different people at a time... ofcourse as these thoughts were roaming through her head Stiles backed up and stepped on something... and simultaniously of her stepping on something there came a pained yelp from behind her, when Stiles turned, a prince was in her wake, "Oh ...I... oh my GOD I am SO sorry!" Stiles cried, completely forgetting everything Lydia had said about how "princesses speak", "It's ok, it's ok," the prince laughed slightly, "I snuck up on you, I'M the one who should apologize," alright, this guy, Stiles decided, was not half bad, atleast not outwardly, there was the thing about mass murdering every non-human in the land but atleast the guy was polite and had cute dimples, "I was actually wondering if you'd like to dance," the prince offered, "I... me? You? You and me? Me and you? Dancing? Yes! Yes.. I.. I am bad at dancing but I will dance because that is what I do... I am a princess... and so I dance," if she made it out of here alive Lydia was going to end up with a Stiles-shaped pelt at the foot of her bed she was sure of it... this was so not propper princess etiquette... but the prince lead Stiles onto the dancefloor anyway and, well, maybe it wasn't so bad after all...

~+~

She wasn't Allison, but she would do, Scott figured as he danced around the floor with the mysterious princess- Stella, he thought her name might be- that had stumbled over her words and smiled at him without shame, he had to dance with someone, he had to perform his princely duty and dance with someone, and make it look like he might be finding a bride so that his father wouldn't be suspicious, so that he would be distracted and Issac could do whatever it was he needed to do from the inside, so for now he would dance because that's what princes did, and the girl- Stella- she wasn't Allison, but she would do, she was smart and funny and acted more like his best freind than a potential bride and that was a releif to him, a wile into the dancing, maybe about a half hour, when the princess stumbled, gripping her head suddenly, "Stella? Are you ok?" Scott asked worriedly, helping to hold her up, Stella just gave a slow nod, "Y-Yes... yes... I'm sorry... my head is ... my head is just killing me all of a sudden..." she groaned, Scott frowned, he knew he wasn't supposed to do this, it went against everything his parents had always taught him and every security measure set in place... but he wasn't going to just let the girl stay here in pain.... "Come with me, I think I have some herbs in my room that can help," he said, gently taking her hand and leading her out of the crowd, "A-Are you sure?" Stella squeaked, "Positive," he agreed, smiling over his shoulder at her and smiling more as he lead her towards the door

~+~

"Are you sure you're ok?" Stiles glanced up at the prince, smiling slightly, "Y-Yeah, I'm fine I promise," she replied, sitting down slowly on the lounge in the corner of the room, "I just get headaches..." she muttered slowly, the prince frowned at her and paused in the doorway, turning to leave, "I'm going to go ask Dr. Deaton to-" "No! No.... no..." she said quickly, jumping to her feet, Lydia was DEFINATELY going to have her pelt for this.... "I.. need to tell you something...."

~+~

"Well well well, look what the wolf dragged in~" Derek cringed at the voice, every muscle in his body tensed and tightened, that voice haunted him day and night, it was the soundtrack of his nightmares, the voice in his head... his stomach tightened into a not and he felt like he could be sick.... "Kate," he snarled out as the blonde woman clutched her fingers around the bars in his cell, a sick and twisted grin plastered to her face like it was Christmas morning, "Derek," she hummed happily, "I hear you were dragged away QUITE easily.... so easily, in fact, it was almost as if you .... WANTED to be captured," she mused, her long fingernails tapping a rythem along the bars, Derek glanced at the fingernail beside him hopefully- no.... it wasn't her's... not even close... "Is there something you WANT Kate?" he sneered, "Me? No, no.... nothing at all," she shrugged, taking a step and clutching a different bar, "I was just thinking..... it's odd, right? That my.... colleagues.... managed to find you but not your sister, and the way you went DOWN... if I didn't know better I'd say you were trying to, I don't know, PROTECT someone... but I figure that can't be right, I mean you never cared about BLURTING out your family's secrets before," she chuckled, Derek felt his stomach flip flip and he struggled not to shift on the spot, he knew if he did it would just give her an excuse, an excuse to jam an electric rod through the bars and pull the trigger again and again and again an- ... he took a deep, deep breath... "You don't know what you're talking about," he gritted out, "Awww Derek... ofcourse I do, I'm talking about you holding out on us, I mean it doesn't matter to ME one way or the other, we'll find your sister one day, and when we do, we'll already have your head to show her, you know that's the thing about fire that I kind of hate, when it's through, there's nothing left but ashes, no ... mementos... to hold onto," she mused, clicking her tounge, "I guess it can't be helped though... anyway, I hear you're going to the gallows tommorrow, and I just want to say good luck, I'll be there, front seat, but if you wanted to have one more go at it... I'm game," she said with a grin, winking at him, that did it... he couldn't.. he couldn't take it anymore, all of the deep breathing and trying to tune her out wasn't helping, every inhale only filled his nose with the scents of death and despair, and everytime he tried to tune her out she only got louder, he couldn't stop himself, he bared his teeth, he lunged at the door, and just as he predicted an electric rod was shoved in his side and current after current of electrrc pulses, wave after wave of pain radiated throughout his body, again and again and again an-. ... by the time she finally withdrew the rod he was a crumpled mess on the floor and he could smell the burn of his own flesh as his body shook and trembled, "I guess that's a no, too bad, it may have loosened you up before the morning... I hear it's better not to be tense, it's more slow if you're all tight and resistant... if you're relaxed you can just... let go, let your neck break... and really, isn't that better?" she laughed, snapping the rod against the bars and turning, "I'll see you tommorrow _Baby_ ," Derek listened as her boots clicked up the stone steps and he curled into himself more, gasping for breath and shaking harder and harder, the thought of death didn't scare him, and the pain of the rod didn't hurt him, but the sound of her laughter, the click of her boots, that... NAME.... made him gag and dry heave as he writhed on the ground, made his mind sink into blackness and his skin break out into a cold sweat, it made him go from tolerating death.... to wishing for it....

~+~

"I still can't believe you had no idea any of this was going on," Stiles huffed as she tip-toed around the corner, "I'm sorry... I am so sorry... I had no idea my dad was hurting people... he just ... he never talked to me about that sort of thing you know? For us politics was always about MY side of it, getting married, securing the throne, that sort of thing... there were always laws I didn't agree with that I planned to change, but they were small things, nothing.... nothing life and death..." Scott said sadly as he waved Stiles to another end of the hall, "I get it.... I mean I don't always know what my dad is doing either but man..." "No, no I know I haven't been very observant," he said quietly as he and Stiles started down a long winding stone staircase, "I ... I would never support hunting someone- hurting someone- just because of what they are," "Look I.. I know it wasn't you ok? Don't feel bad," Stiles said gently, noticing the torches on the side of the wall and grabbing one of them, "I feel terrible! But more importantly I ... I want to help, I want to make things better, make up for my mistakes, and I'm going to start by helping you save your freind Derek," he said with determination, "Thanks Scotty but... what are you going to do if they catch you?" Stiles asked, frowning and having to lift her dress skirts in her free hand as she walked down the steps, Scott smiled gently and took the torch, leading them further down, "Um... I haven't really thought about that yet.... probbably run off with you two," "What?! Scott you can't ... you're really going to just spring off with two people- a witch and a werewolf no less- that you don't even know and leave the safety and security of your palace for life on the run? You can't do that," "None of that matters, it's all fake, it's built off of blood and lies, how can I keep up this... this FACADE knowing that people are being killed just because of their DNA?" he insisted, sighing and glancing at Stiles again, it was still hard to believe that someone who looked so soft and feminine was in, reality, male, and that all of her glitz and glamor was just faery magic... but he had heard stranger in the last hour so he didn't bother to comment on it... "Scott, you could get seriously hurt, you could get put in a tower or something, kings do that to their children ALL the time," "Then I guess my witch freind will just have to help me escape," he said with a small smile, Stiles smiled and nodded as she got to the bottom of the stairs, "I guess so," she hummed, peeking around the corner, "I don't see any guards around here... where are they?" "Changing shifts, you didn't think I brought you down here without taking ANY precautions did you?" he smiled brightly, like a puppy who learned a new trick, it was kind of adorable if Stiles said so herself, "You little imp," Stiles teased, rounding the corner and swallowing, all of the cages- cells- looked empty from a distance.... "Derek? Derek?" she called quietly, keeping Scott close behind as she walked, "Derek!" she called a little louder, screaming when a roar suddenly echoed through the small space and Derek launched himself at the bars, claws drawn and sharp and aimed at Stiles, the witch cursed, jumping back and in front of Scott protectively, "Derek! Derek it's me!" she screamed, Derek hissed, a pained look on his face before the expression slowly melted into something softer, sadder, "S... S... S-Stiles...?" he breathed, "Yeah... yeah it's me buddy," she breathed, walking forward and swallowing as she quickly unlocked the door, "How-" "I'm a lock pick by nature, even without magic," she chuckled as the door swung open and Derek stood, walking a bit shakily out of the hole, "You're a girl," he said bluntly, "Yeah, faery magic, had to sneak in here somehow right?" Stiles snorted, face faltering when she got a look at the fresh bruises and smatterings of blood painting the werewolf, "Oh my God.... Derek what the hell? What happened? Who did this?" she asked quickly, rushing forward and reaching her fingers out, Derek flinched away before she could even touch him, "Please don't," he said quickly, under his breath, Stiles swallowed, trying again not to feel the sting of the reaction, "Stiles I hear the guards coming, there are more than one! I think they might have heard something," Scott said urgently, "It's ok, I can take 'em," Stiles insisted, "And attract MORE attention?" "I can- ... wait.... Scott what time is it?" "We're in a dungeon, how should I know? It was just after eleven when we left my room," Stiles cursed loudly, running her hands through her hair, "Oh no no no..." "What? Stiles what's wrong?" "Lydia's spells will wear off at midnight! We have to go- NOW!" "Hold on, we can't just run out of here-" Derek interrupted, "The CARRIAGE, our only way out is going to turn into a PUMPKIN in thirty minutes!" he insisted, "Stiles they're getting closer!" Scott urged, "I didn't want to have to use this for something so simple..." she groaned, fishing a small pouch from the front of her dress, "Scott are you absolutely SURE you want to come with us?" "Wait... come with us? Stiles you can't be serious! Even YOU can't be that reckless!" Derek shouted, "I'm sure I'm sure!" Scott insisted as Stiles opened the pouch, "Stiles listen to me! We cannot kidnap the prince! They'll never leave us be if-" "I'm going willingly, it isn't kidnapping!" "It'll LOOK like kidnapping to your father, he'll have our heads even worse than before," Derek insisted, "I'm not gonna just leave him here to get in trouble Derek! He could get put in a tower or something!" "How can you even TRUST him? He's the PRINCE Stiles! He-" "He brought me down here to rescue you and risked his life to do it, I can trust him," Stiles almost shouted, tossing a pinch of pink glittery dust over Derek and then another over Scott, "Ah... how did Lydia's spell go again?" she grumbled, hearing the footsteps getting closer, "What do you MEA-" "Aha! Ah... Bibbidi... Bobbidi... Boo!" she shouted, and sure enough, the Pixie Dust that he had tossed onto Scott and Derek wooshed around them and by the time Stiles had turned around they had undergone the same transformation she had, "I'm a girl now!" Scott grinned as she looked down at her now too-baggy clothes, "Right right," Stiles sighed, snapping her fingers and muttering a witch's spell beneath her breath as their clothes turned from that of a prince's and a prisoner's to two regal dresses, "There they are! Get 'em!" Stiles heard, turning and seeing two guards rushing towards them, "Sorry fellas, I don't have time for this," she hissed, grabbing another fistfull of Pixie Dust and blowing it in their faces, "To sleep with you both!" she hissed, and in a second flat they both fell to the ground unconscious, "Hurry hurry!" Stiles shouted, grabbing her dress skirts and racing towards the stairs, her heart was pounding, her blood was pumping, she had to keep glancing over her shoulder to make sure Scott and Derek were behind her, every footstep felt like a vibration of anxiety pulsing through her body, it was a horrible, terrible feeling, yet she had to keep going, she had to keep TRYING, skirts swirled around her ankles as she tried to keep from stepping or tripping over the fabric and upon reaching the top she waited, grabbing Derek's hand as soon as it was in reach and jerking the werewolf upwards, "You too Scott!" Stiles insisted, Scott reached out and a moment later Stiles had her hand, jerking her forward and pushing them both along as she ran towards the exit of the castle, praying the guards wouldn't get too suspicious as they ran, and ran and ran.... there seemed to be no end in sight to the stone corridors, and then finally, like a light at the end of the tunnel, there was a door, and the hope swelled in Stiles' chest that this was it, that they would be ok, that they would ALL be ok....


	6. Into The Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, a witch, a werewolf, a prince, and a faery ran away from the kingdom, and the witch told the story of the first and last Tourner Dans Le Vide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, there will be references to musicals too, and .. possibly singing and dancing in later chapters.. *cough*

"Oh my God oh my GOD it's almost midnight!" Stiles cried as the horses ran faster and faster, "I will not walk the rest of the way to my cottage I WILL NOT!" Stiles groaned, Derek twitched beside her, staring down at the dark blue fabric of the dress and flinching slightly, "Are you ok?" Scott asked suddenly, making Derek stiffen, "Fine, I just want to get out of this skin and back into my own," she snapped, Scott glanced down, moving her fingers against the soft purple of her own dress and humming, "I sort of like it, it's a little tight and constricting but also sort of flowy and freeing you know?" "I wasn't talking about the clothes," Derek groaned, "Oh..." Scott muttered back, looking up and frowning slightly, "I guess you are-" "WE'RE HERE!" Stiles screamed, flinging the door open and screaming as the carriage started to shake and she yanked Derek and Scott out, all three collapsing on the ground as the carriage popped back into a pumpkin and the horses and coachmen started to turn back into mice and geckos, Stiles underwent a transformation as well and soon found himself groaning in discomfort, "WOW somehow being a guy in a dress is even more uncomfortable than a woman in a dress, wow this sucks," he hissed, kicking off the heeled shoes and rushing to the door of the cabin and racing inside, "I've gotta change clothes and get you two back to normal, then we have to find a place to stay, it won't be too long before the guards and hunters are after us," Stiles mused, "Ofcourse you could always let ME turn them back," he heard, turning on his heel and lighting up happily, "Lydia!! You stayed here!" "Well ofcourse, I knew you'd just bring trouble back with you," she teased, Stiles just smiled weakly at her and took a breath, "By the way.... the lovely lady in the lavender here is Prince Scott, just so you know, totally on our side, gonna need to hide the prince for a wile, I'm going to go change clothes, could you uh... you know? Get things back in order?" he grinned, rushing to the closet, Lydia blinked slowly, taking a moment to register what he had just said, "STILES!!"

~+~

"Do you feel better now?" Scott asked with a small smile as he glanced up at Derek, rolling up the slightly too-big sleeves of his shirt as he did, "Yes," Derek replied bluntly, "Listen... I know you don't want me here with you, but I didn't know what my father was doing, I want to help, maybe if I can-" "It isn't just you Scott, I've had a long day.... excuse me," he replied harshly, making a b-line to the carriage that Lydia had just finished preparing, "I don't think Derek likes me at all," Scott sighed, "Nah he's just bristly like that, plus the guy was sort of on death row all day..." "O-Oh... yeah... that's true..." Scott muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm going to sit up front with Lydia ok? I want to see the countryside in the open air, I've never been this far from the palace before," he said with a weak smile, Stiles didn't answer, watching sadly as he headed for the front where Lydia was preparing the horses, he took a breath, clutching his bag tighter over his shoulder and entering the carriage, shutting the door behind him, "You know, you could stand to be just a LITTLE less hostile to Scott, I get you've been through .... alot doesn't even begin to describe it, but he's like this innocent little puppy who had no idea-" "I'm not mad at Scott Stiles, I get it," Derek snapped again, Stiles swallowed, setting his bag down and slinking from his seat onto the floor in front of Derek, "Ok... is it me? Did I do something?" Derek flinched so subtly that if Stiles wasn't used to watching for it he never would have seen it, "No," he lied, "Derek.... that's the most terrible lie I've ever heard, what did I do?" "Nothing, nothing," he said quickly, Stiles glanced at him, taking in the awkward way he was sitting to prevent pressure from his stomach or his back, putting all of his weight on his hands as he braced the seat, wordlessly, Stiles leaned forward and started to scroll up Derek's shirt, making him flinch much more noticeably this time, "Stiles-" "It's still there," he muttered, glaring at the dark burn on Derek's stomach and scanning him more quickly to see the array of simalar looking strikes against his sides and probbably going around his back too, he wondered if Derek took his shirt off just how many he would see... "Stiles!" Derek shouted as the carriage started to move, Stiles looked up slowly, biting the inside of his cheek, he stared him in the eye before looking down, his fingers moving closer to Derek's wounds, and Derek flinched- Stiles knew he would, but it wasn't as bad as it had been earlier, it wasn't the full on jerk of movement like it had been earlier, it could easily be explained away by the wounds being fresher at the time and Derek still not quite registering that the stranger he was staring at then was Stiles... but then there was also the other theory... "A woman did this... huh?" Derek didn't speak, but the uncomfortable way he shifted his body at the mention, closed his legs a little and moved his weight just slightly more towards the carriage door, answered the question for him, he inhaled through his nose, Derek wasn't lashing out because of anger, it was due to trauma, whoever had made this marks had left an impression on Derek, a deep, deep wound like talons digging into his mind, and Stiles could imagine how that must have felt, the creepy crawly feeling under his skin as he stared at himself and found that his own body was triggering flashes of those memories, it could have been anything but given Stiles' own first encounter with the wounds he had a little bit of a hunch that it was the fingertips, thin and lithe and well manicured, he wondered if Derek stared at simaler hands long when he was being hurt, wondered if when Stiles reached out that was what he saw, wondered if Derek had been looking down all this time, stomach churning, and seeing his own hands that way too, Derek didn't have to say anything and Stiles didn't have to ask, "I'm sorry, I didn't... I didn't think, I just wanted to get you ou-" "It's fine," he interrupted, looking away, "I ... I would have done the same thing if our roles were reversed, we had to get out of there, it's fine, I promise, I'm just sore," he muttered, Stiles didn't know if he meant emotionally or physically but he sort of felt like it might be both, "Lean back, I'm gonna take care of this," Stiles insisted, digging into the bag he had brought with him and pulling out a small box of medicinal supplies he had with him, "Stiles, really, they'll heal on their own, th-" "Yeah yeah wolfy powers, you know, sometimes, good ol' herbs can do the trick better and faster, at the very least it'll take the pain out, now sit still and just let me do this," he insisted, grabbing a few different herbs and the mortar and pestal he had with him, "Stiles-" "Derek," he said sternly, looking up at him, Derek's jaw tensed and without having to prompt him he slowly removed his shirt, revealing dark marks and red welts covering across his abdamon and back, some even scattered up his chest, "God almighty.... what did she do to you?" Stiles breathed, and he had never seen Derek clench up so much in his short time of knowing him, it was like he was willing himself not to curl into a ball and start screaming, and he willed himself through it, he didn't, he let go of the tension and he took a breath but his eyes suddenly looked heavier than before, "She did alot," and that was all he said

~+~

"So that was Pixie Dust Stiles used then?" Scott asked curiously as he looked around at the beautifull scenery of the countryside, no wonder people lived out here, it was so natural, so easy to breathe in, so stunning... not at all like the constant closed in walls of the city, "That's right, straight from me," Lydia hummed back as she glanced down at a small sheet of papper in her hand that Scott assumed to be a map, "How do you get Pixie Dust? Do you make it yourself?" he asked, "Mm yes and no... Fae Folk naturally have their own source of magic power that isn't reliant on Pixie Dust and we can use that for plenty of magic, oftentimes it's wrongly CALLED Pixie Dust when it isn't, the actual Pixie Dust comes from a tree on an island far away and unless you live on the island it's rather hard to come by," "But Stiles had an entire pouch..." "I used to live near the island, not on, but .. very close... it's a long, boring story, trust me you don't want to hear it," she insisted, "Ah... so if you're a faery though, where are your wings?" he asked as well, Lydia swallowed, her back tensing as she inhaled, "I never had wings- we're not that far from the safe place now, I told you all I had a place in mind didn't I?" Scott nodded slowly, feeling bad that he had yet again brought up a sore subject, "So I've always wondered... what's life like in a palace?" Lydia asked suddenly, Scott smiled, beginning an animated explanation of how things worked, he was vaguely aware of the fact that she was trying to ease the tension but truth be told, he wanted it eased just as badly as she did, and so he talked, because it was the only way he felt he could lighten both their spirits, and if that's all he could do, then would talk until he had no voice left

~+~

A loud hiss slithered from Derek's mouth as he jerked away, only for Stiles to keep his hands steady on Derek's ribs, "Shhh... I know, I know it hurts, just hold still another minute," he tried to soothe, Derek just growled lowly in response but braced harder against the seat, head bowed as he took a quaking breath and gave a little nod for Stiles to continue, the herbs burned against his still raw wounds and Stiles wrapped the ones that he could, he didn't have enough bandages for them all so some of the less conveniently placed wounds had to air dry and he wasn't sure what bothered him more, the tight bandages pressing against the wounds, or the sharp chill of the air brushing against them like waves, the electric rod Kate administered had been one sharp reminder of the pain he had already suffered on his way in, everytime he tried to fight against the guards he had one slammed against his back, into his hips, against his chest, he had to try though, he knew he wasn't going to make it out alive but he figured, once he was already there, once he knew Stiles was safe, why not give 'em hell? "I've just got one left, come on Derek you can handle this," Stiles added as he dipped his hand into the salve and spread it across another burn on Derek's back, making him suppress a scream of pain and bite his lip until it bled in doing so, he panted heavily, his entire body shaking like a leaf from the efforts as Stiles' fingers glided paitiently over the marks, "I swear, when I find the person who did this-" "You'll WHAT, Stiles? We can't retaliate against hunters, if we do it only causes more death on our account, I'm not going to let anyone else die for me," Derek rasped, "It won't be like that, look, you said it yourself, we have the prince now and Scott isn't about to take these rules lieing down, he wants to overthrow his father and I want to help him, I won't ask you to get involved but we're doing that, so it really won't matter so much what happens a few days before or a few days after, not when the game is about to change, and I'm telling you... this isn't .... this isn't something I'm just going to let slide Derek, I'm not going to let-" "I can take care of myself Stiles, I don't need you to fight my battles for me," he huffed suddenly, Stiles snorted, giving him a skeptical look, "Yeah, because that's worked out SO well in the past, you can't take care of yourself alone Derek, nobody can," he insisted, cleansing his hands of the salve and putting his tools away, "Nobody except you right?" Derek muttered, "Um, no? I said 'nobody', myself included, I ... I need people, Derek, just like you need people, and I think maybe we need eachother, is that such a terrible thing? To need someone?" "When all it does is get them killed? Yeah usually," Stiles inhaled lowly and shook his head, "That won't happen to me," "What makes you so sure?" "You know I see what you're trying to do," Stiles said suddenly, sitting next to Derek and frowning deeply, "And what am I trying to do exactly?" _"Tourner dans le vide,"_ Derek quirked an eyebrow up at the strange language and sighed, "I have no idea what that means," "It's a saying we witches have, it means 'turn into the empty', we witches say it as a warning," "A warning?" Derek echoed in confusion, Stiles nodded slowly, "Yeah, to prevent what happened the last time a witch turned to emptiness," "What happened?" Derek asked a bit hesitantly, Stiles sighed, glancing out the window for a moment before closing his eyes, "I'll tell you the story, of the first and last _'Tourner dans le vide'_...."

_Once upon a time, there was a witch as bright and brilliant as they come, first, you must understand, this was at a time before King McCall took over and according to legend, magic was freer then, the entire village loved the witch, and he loved them, they were his family, his treasures, everything he had, and then there was the crown jewl, a werewolf that he took to his bed, who he wished to marry, they were a lovely couple... but not lovely neighbors, for you see the village next to this one didn't delight in the witch's fancies so much, they didn't appreciate magic in the air or werewolves on the prowl, and so one late night, hunters came and destroyed the village, they took everything from the witch, they robbed and pillaged and set things aflame, they made it all look like a raid of some sort and when the witch came to, he found himself alone, everyone and everything had been torn away from him in the form of orange and red flames, the werewolf that he so loved was gone, and no power on earth could bring him back, the witch felt such immense anguish, such terrible pain and agony, that he would do anything, give anything for it to stop, but the hunters, who planned for him to sacrifice his life, were caught by surprise, for it wasn't his life that the witch gave to ease his pain, it was soul..... and I don't mean that in the fire and brimstone kind of way, the witch turned to darkness because it was too painfull to look to the light, and to rid himself of his pain, he let the darkness consume him, darkness is a fickle matter, it's equal parts beautifull and hideous, and this time, the darkness took something beautifull, something pure and hopefull, and warped it, distorted it into something ugly and cruel, the witch who had once brought so much peace to the land no longer existed and in his place was an agent of dark magic who operated by his own selfish desires, that pure magic had morphed into something grotesque, chaotic, and limitless, wich may not sound bad- after all, imagine what we could do without limits- but without limits, magic will always do more harm than good, the witch, more or less, became a beast, and after his inception as such another witch, who was still pure of heart, was hired to take care of the problem, she cast a spell over the dark witch to keep him from hurting others and to lock him up inside of a prison without bars, and the dark witch became known then as the one and only Sorcerer, all of my kind, even the most brilliant of witches, fear the Sorcerer, and we all have unofficially made a pledge to stop eachother from ever going dark, ever turning to emptiness again, because we know what it can create, and there are already enough beasts in this world without us creating more of them_

"So someone became empty- became dark- out of greif, and then they turned into the darkest witch of all times, is that your point?" Derek asked sourly, "Yeah, and don't pretend that that couldn't happen to werewolves just as easily," Stiles huffed back, Derek just shook his head slowly, shoulders heaving as he took a deep breath, "No, I no it can happen.... what happened to the dark witch?" "The Sorcerer? It depends on what legend you follow, it changes depending on who tells it, that story started so long ago..." Stiles shrugged, Derek glanced up at him, eyebrows raised, "Well wich ending do you believe?" he asked, slowly putting his shirt back on despite the pain the movement caused, "Me? Well... there was this one my mom told me about, I always felt like.. I don't know... almost like a kinship with it, is that weird? To feel connected to a story I'm not part of?" Derek shook his head, leaning against the back of the carriage and closing his eyes, "No it isn't weird- what was it?" he wasn't all that curious actually, but Stiles' voice was soothing and it eased some of the pain to listen to him speak, even if he'd never admit it, "Well actually, Mom sai-" "We're here!!" Lydia shouted from the front of the carriage, Derek sighed lowly, opening his eyes again as the carriage came to a stop, Stiles didn't hesitate to open the carriage door and get out first, offering Derek his hand and smiling in some sort of cross between sincere and teasing, and Derek had to really think about how badly he was aching before he begrudgingly grabbed Stiles' hand and let the witch help him down, "Um Lyds? Did you realize that we parked in the middle of the woods?" Stiles asked as he glanced around, not letting go of Derek's hand even once the carriage door was shut, Derek found it a bit odd but he didn't comment on it, there was no reason to, "I'm perfectly aware of that yes," she replied with a hum, walking- or gliding, because ofcourse Lydia GLIDES- towards a tree stump and clearing her throat, she nocked a few times against the wood in some strange pattern and a moment later a stone beside the tree moved aside, "Here we are," she smiled, walking over to the stone and staring down, and once the three boys followed, they were alarmed to find that what they were looking at was.... a hole, and absolutely nothing more, Stiles shook his head slowly, raising his hands in a gesture of giving up, "Ok, you got me, you're gonna have to tell me what this means," he sighed, "It's a foxhole," Derek said suddenly, glaring at the hole and wrinkling his nose, "I .. think it's a KITSUNE hole," he muttered, "A kitsune hole? They live in holes?" Stiles asked in confusion, "Well some do, just like some werewolves live in dens, so do kitsune, it's safer than trying to integrate into human society," Derek shrugged back, "You want us to hide in a hole? But... we can't even fit..." Scott pouted, "Don't worry, kitsune holes are like portals, you'll fit when you stick your foot in, and it's much bigger on the inside," she added, the boys exchanged looks but didn't have time to question further as Lydia dangled her foot in front of the hole and then jumped in, vanishing in a little tornado of vapor and leaving the other three to stare around with hesitation, Stiles took a breath, patting Derek on the back, "Ok, you next Big Guy," he nodded, Derek frowned, eyes narrowing, "Why me?" "Because I need to stay up here and guide Scott down and Lydia's already down there waiting for us, I could send Scott down first if that makes you more comfortable," he offered, Derek shook his head, stepping in front of the hole and swallowing nervously as he stepped forward, yelping as a strange, almost vaccume-like force sucked him in, and before he knew it he was flat on his rear, blinking and staring up at a ceiling above him, he looked around, seeing nothing but dirt walls and lit torches lining them, it was weird, it was definately bigger down here and despite all the dirt it wasn't dirty, when he finally regained his senses his eyes focused on a very amused looking Lydia, who was about to speak when he suddenly felt a weight slam into his back and the wind was nocked out of him as he toppled forward, groaning and hearing a shrill "Sorry! Sorry! Oh my God I am so sorry! Sorry!" coming from above him, "Prince McCall... it's alright..." Derek muttered as he felt the weight move and he stood up slowly, taking a breath as he tried to steady himself, only to feel another weight slam into him and for him to fall down face first, "Oh God Derek I'm sorry! Why were you still standing there?" Stiles asked with a pout as he leapt to his feet and helped Derek up, the werewolf just sighed heavily and stared at the wall, shaking his head, "Let's just go," he muttered, "Um, Derek? You.... don't call me 'Prince McCall' .... please? I don't.... I don't want to... I guess I just don't feel much like I should have any kind of title right now," "Well that's a shame, you're the king of blaming yourself for something you didn't do," Stiles teased as he started following Lydia down the long pathway, "I'm serious, I don't even... want to be related to royalty right now, I'm not a prince, I'm not a royal, I'm just..." "A rebel?" Stiles grinned, Scott's face lit up, nodding thoughtfully, "Yeah... yeah that's it, I'm a rebel!" Scott chirped happily, "And now that that's out of the way, do me a favor and be quiet? Kira invited us here, but that's no reason for us to wake up her entire skulk," Lydia huffed, "Skulk...?" Stiles snorted, "It's a group of foxes, like a PACK of wolves or a COVEN of witches?" Derek huffed back, "Ok I know but a SKULK? Don't you have anything else to call it?" he snickered, Lydia scrunched up her lips, sighing, "A leash," "HA!" Stiles laughed, holding a hand over his mouth, "See? That's why I called it a skulk," "Ok ok, I'm sorry, I'll shut up now, I promise!" "You should really stop making promises you have no intention of keeping," "Yeah I really should," he agreed with a snicker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever After High reference? What Ever After High reference? *cough*
> 
> For some reason I find the word 'skulk' a little amusing and that's possibly very weird but at the point I was writing this chapter I couldn't resist making a point of that


	7. Poor Unfortunate Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, a mermaid gave up her voice and her tail in the hopes of true love... that true love later drove her off a cliff...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Contains breif Stissac** (considering that's one of my notps I was surprised too, trust me)
> 
> Lydia's backstory is one of my favorite things about this fic, actually, I wish I could have had the time and energy and placement to do like five chapters of nothing but pre-fic Lydia but I still hope that it'll resonate well like this
> 
> I would also write an eternity about Issac and his adventures chasing sexual magic highs but you know.. *cough*

_"You just want to be happy, and there's nothing wrong with that," the mermaid hesitated to respond, her lips tight and her jaw tense as she stared at the scroll in front of her, hesitating... just.... hesitating as the pen shook between her fingers, she glanced over her shoulder anxiously, heart hammering in her chest, "But... my voice? My.... my tail...?" she asked quietly, her free hand going instinctively to her throat, "It'll be worth it, isn't alot of happiness worth a little bit of agony?" "I.. I guess so..." she breathed, she could feel every bone in her body screaming "WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!" like a pulse, but she was .... she was so desperate... "Then go ahead and sign the scroll," the voice insisted, shaking still, she pressed the pen to the page, and signed her name, **Lydia**_

It was definately a weird feeling to wake up outside of his home for the first time in his entire life, he was used to his bed, his room, his atmosphere, and yet when he came back to his senses and started to feel around, open his eyes, take in where he was, none of that was there, it was all so different and then the memories from the night before slammed into him like a freight train and it felt like he had had his head put through a blender, rubbing his eyes, Scott sat up slowly and looked around, screaming when he saw someone in the corner of the room, holding a baby apparently, the person- a girl- screamed back and turned around, a look of fright on her face as she held the infant closer, "Who are you?" Scott squeaked, "I-I'm Kira! I.. live here!" she cried, Scott swallowed, feeling heavily embarrassed at himself and standing up slowly, "I um... I'm sorry for screaming I just... didn't expect someone in here..." he said shyly, Kira smiled nervously, shifting the baby in her arms, "I'd shake your hand but ... you know... my arms are full of baby..." she said awkwardly, "It's ok, I um... I'm sorry, again," "It's ok, really," Kira insisted, "S-So um.... who's the baby?" Scott asked awkwardly, "Oh!! We aren't really sure actually, my skulk takes in orphans of the magic variety to protect them, we try to find their families- that's where MY family is now- but alot of them just... end up here, you know, permanently? The war.. well.. I call it that but it's more like a mass attack... it's taken alot of families away, left tiny ones alone in it's wake, a really long time ago, way before that new king took over, my mom built this place- well, you know, constructed it? It's like a big safe house, so we try to bring whoever we can in to protect them from the humans, but we're running out of room, even with magic, this... this has to end soon doesn't it? I mean.... I don't know how much longer we can handle this," she admitted, Scott looked down, biting his lip, "I-" "Oh, jeez... I.. I'm so sorry, I really shouldn't have unloaded all of that on you I ju-" "Kira, you're letting me stay here, listening is the LEAST I can do... besides it's fine, I promise, I'm a good listener," he smiled gently, Kira gave a little shy grin back, blushing slightly, "W-Well then um-" "Guys?" they both paused, turning towards the entrance of the room and seeing a very worried looking Stiles standing in front of them, "Where's Lydia?"

_It wasn't that being a mermaid was a bad thing, it wasn't being a mermaid that was even the PROBLEM, she just wanted something more, something that built up to more than daily rituals and staring at the sun through water-logged blinds and everything about her life being soaked in water, she got tired of the loneliness and was sick of swimming, she wanted to try something new, she wanted to try something DIFFERENT, she just wanted to be out of the water, and that's when she saw the ship up above as objects started cascading down into their future watery graves, and looking up really was her first mistake_

"Calm down Stiles, I'm sure there's nothing wrong, Lydia is nothing if not capable," Derek said calmly as he watched the witch pace back and forth, "Yeah, TOO capable," he muttered back, "What do you mean?" Scott asked in confusion, "I mean I think she might have done something stupid," he fretted, "Lydia is the smartest person I know, I'm sure whatever she's doing is in the best interest," Kira said softly, "Yeah... the best interest of WHO? Us, or her?" "Stiles, will you please tell us what's going on?" Derek growled, Stiles sucked on his lower lip, pausing long enough to breathe, "Lydia and I talked yesterday, wile she ... prettied me up... we talked about war, she said it was on the horizon, that we couldn't hold it back much longer, I knew bringing Scott here would be the last straw.... the next time we see the humans, it's going to be war, it's going to be endless... it's going to be painfull, and war can't ... a battle can't be won with four people or even five," he rambled, "So you think she went to gather recruits?" Derek guessed, "No.... no I don't," he paused, running his fingers through his hair, "I think she went to unleash a weapon,"

_When she saw the man cascade towards her in the water it was like watching a rainbow reflect against the surface, there was a beauty to it but there was also a sense that it was unnatural, and though she couldn't explain why, she had the indescribable urge to save this one, it wasn't like usual where she would help them occasionally bob back up to the water and leave them to sink or swim, no, she had the urge to SAVE this one... to make sure he stayed breathing... it was so odd, but she followed through on it, looping her arms around him and carefully dragging one of his arms over her shoulder, she swam towards the surface, staring, watching, looking around for the closest sign of land, and then swimming towards it as quickly as possible, it wasn't long after that that she was able to get him to shore and drag her own body up the sandy beaches, ignoring the way her gills cried out for the water and leaning down, breathing air into the man's lungs and starting to press against his ribs in a hope to get the water out, when he started coughing and grunting, turning over to hack up the blood of the sea, she took the opportunity and returned to the water, not realizing that by the time he looked back he could still see her tail splash against the waves as she dove down beneath the depths_

"I'm going to find her," Stiles muttered, taking a breath as he started towards the entrance, funny thing about Kitsune holes apparently, there were tunnels and entrances and exits all around them that seemed to be only visible on the inside, "Stiles wait, you can't just-" "I can't let her do this Derek, I can't, way more is at stake than you realize, you think the hunters are bad? The humans? They're ants in comparison to the giant Lydia is going to release," "But why would she do something like that?" Kira asked in confusion, "Because she thinks it's for the better, and who knows, maybe she's right, maybe she can strike a deal that will win this war for us.... and in the process sacrifice herself for it, I just can't let that happen," he said with determination, heading for the exit again and cursing when Issac suddenly popped in front of him, "Where are you going Stiles?" he asked with a small smirk, "Not now Issac," he grunted, trying to move past him only for the Incubus to hold a hand up and flick him back a step, "I've done you TWO favors now- three if you count alerting Lydia to your situation- and I've got ZERO payment, I'm tired of waiting," he said seriously, Stiles swallowed, anger boiling in his veins as the need to find Lydia increased, "You want your payment Issac? Fine," he hissed, wrapping his arms around his neck and pulling the other closer, the kiss was raw and angry and reeked of desperation and frustration but it was also full of passion and there was magic on Stiles' breath, the kind of magic that Issac craved, that was why he struck these deals to begin with, Issac was a popular Incubus, he didn't need to strike deals to get what he wanted, a pretty smile and a show of charm and he could have any human he wanted, but that was just it, humans... humans are food, but they're sustainable, the thing that you eat because you're hungry, magical beings like werewolves and witches and kitsune? They're on another level, they're the guilty pleasures, the comfort foods, the sugar-coated pastries and the refreshing treats that leave a person moaning, there were levels, ofcourse, and it was in part a matter of taste, most of his kind hungered for the Fae Folk more than any other, their magic was sweet, like raw sugar, and it was light on the tounge, but Issac craved witches, the Fae Folk were too sweet, it almost gave him a toothache, witches though had a savory feel to their magic, a bitterness that crept into the sweet flavour and nipped away at some of the richness, and there was a heat to it that the Fae Folk just didn't have, a spice that to some was odd lined over the raw-sugar taste of magic, but Issac loved that spice, the spice carried by those who some would deem "dark", werewolves, vampires, witches, they were all good but witches? Witches were the best, their magic was strong and heavy and left him with a feeling of satisfaction, trouble was, witches very rarely consented to being fed on by... well... anything, least of all Incubi and Succubi, they knew what it could do to them and they weren't willing to gamble it, Stiles was the only witch in the land who ever gave Issac the time of day so although they had their differences he was Issac's guilty pleasure, the one treat that he could sink his teeth into, and if Stiles would ever loosen the belt and let it go beyond tounge-and-cheek he had a feeling that he would become enslaved to Stiles, just imagining the long lithe fingers on his body sent shudders into his bones, but Stiles had rules, he had conditions, and Issac knew better than to try to break them, he didn't want a repeat of last time... as always, Stiles pulled away too soon and left Issac chasing the taste of magic with his lips, left him touching his mouth as if to catch any falling drops, left him breathless and shaken and disturbed the way it should feel after being sent into a sexual wirlwind, the emotional equivalent of bedhead, but Stiles was unaffected as always and wiped his mouth like it was a chore and something about that made a pit of frustration form in Issac's gut and it made him all the more willing to do whatever Stiles asked to get another chance at breaking that demeanor- he didn't realize until the moment that thought crossed his mind.... but he was already enslaved to Stiles, wrapped around his little finger, chained to him, and right where Stiles wanted him too, "I should cut off your pretty head," Issac seethed, the way Stiles smirked just meant he was right, "Well then you'd never get the second half of your payment, just stay here Issac, it's better that way," he insisted, Issac gave a small sigh of dissappointment, still barely down from the high of his feed, "Do you want me to conjure you a Nightmare Horse?" he asked with a small grin, Stiles snorted, lips parting, "Boy you'll just do ANYTHING for a taste of lil' ol' me huh? Yeah, conjure a freaking horse," he huffed, "Wait! What do we do wile you're gone?" Scott asked with a worried look, Stiles glanced over the four of them and cringed, he really was leaving them in a bad spot... normally Derek would be able to hold his own against whatever danger came their way but he was still healing and looked as tired as a dog to top it off, Scott was just a human, he would be of little help, and unless Issac could seduce an entire army at once he was more or less useless, the charge Stiles gave him may be enough to take down a few guards but in order to get the power Issac really needed he would have to cross some lines that he wasn't ready to cross, and he didn't have time to debate the issue either, that only left one, Kira, who looked as innocent and perky as Scott did, Stiles wasn't sure what she could do, only that she just had one tail, but between a beaten and battered werewolf, a human, a half-fed incubus, and herself, the fledgling Kitsune was really the best option, "Kira's in charge until I get back, I'll be as fast as I can," he replied, heading out of the foxhole and being glad to see the horse already waiting on him, Nightmare Horses were special creatures, made of pure energy rather than actually being an organic, living thing, they were faster, stronger, more durable, only Incubi and Succubi could summon them and it was a rare talent at that, he'd owe Issac atleast two kisses for this one, but he shook his head and mounted the horse, taking off to find Lydia at all costs

_The pirate was beautifull, blonde hair and blue eyes and a killer smile, he roamed the seas looking for her, dropped nets and anchors and explorers, perhaps she should have found it threatennig but instead she just found it flattering, it was a little bit of a cat and mouse game for them, except when it wasn't, because after spending so much time with her actions centered on him- avoiding him wile leaving enough clues behind for him to follow her- she began to feel something for him, she began to fall for him, and she began to resent being underwater, resent the fact that she couldn't be near him the way she wished to be, and all of that resentment and anger culminated until one day she made a wish- she wished, in that moment, that she could walk on land_

"All this time... you've been an Incubus," Scott said quietly, Issac looked down, biting his lip and swallowing hard, "Issac... has.... has anything been real? Any of it?" "Ofcourse it has! You can't... you can't ask me that Scott! I never even fed off of you so why-" "But were you going to?" there was a pause, heavy tension hanging in the air, "Issac... you just.... you appeared in the garden one day ... you flirted with me all the time... was that your intention? To feed off of me?" Scott sounded heart-broken, and Issac wished he could deny it all, "I changed Scott, you changed me! Yes... yes I was going to originally, that's why I was there but..." "But what? You started liking me so you changed your mind?" he scoffed, "Yes! Yes Scott that's exactly what happened! I'm not lying!" Scott huffed, looking down and shaking his head, "Not lying? You've been lying this entire time!" "And what about Stiles!? He disguised himself as a woman- tried to seduce you, you seem alright with him!" "Stiles came clean within the hour and had a good reason for it, you-.... years Issac! You've been my best freind, my ONLY freind for years! How could you not tell me!?" "What was I supposed to do then? Say 'by the way Scott I happen to be a sex-feeding demon who originally was at your castle feeding off of a guard and decided to try my hand at a little royal cuisine'?" Issac snapped, crossing his arms over his chest, "Besides, I couldn't have told you if I wanted to, don't you see how much danger that would have put me in?" Scott squinted, not sure how to respond to that, "What do you mean?" "He means if he told you his name upfront, you could have held power over him," Derek sighed, Issac glanced at him over his shoulder, swallowed, and nodded slowly, "And after what that WITCH did to me that's all I needed..." he muttered, "Witch? You mean Stiles?" Kira asked, "I thought you and Stiles were freinds," Scott pouted, "Hardly! More like 'maybes', do you know why I still come when he calls? It's not for the magic dessert, he only offers kisses, I'm not THAT desperate," ok, so that was a lie, for the chance to feed on a witch he would take anything from full blown sex to angry kisses to hand holding, he didn't care, but it didn't make this sting any less, "What happened?" Kira asked innocently, Issac just sighed, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head slowly, "It's a long story...."

_"You love him, don't you?" When she first heard the voice, it caused her entire body to tense up and for chills to go down her spine, but ofcourse, it wasn't like that changed the more she heard it... when she turned around she saw a merman with a black tail perched on the rock next to her's, "I could help you you know, I could get you what you want," "... What I want?" she asked quietly, swimming a bit closer, the merman smiled charmingly and nodded with enthusiasm, "Legs, I can turn you human, and in fact you can even keep your magic, I'm sure the pirate will love you just as much as you love him, if only he could ever meet you," the merman said with a small smile, "And what would you want in return for this?" She asked, "Oh nothing much... your tail, obviously, you can't be a mermaid AND walk on land.... and your voice," she reached her hands up and clutched her throat, "My... my voice? Why would you want my voice?" "Oh not your entire voice, just... your singing voice," "I don't understand," she said quietly, "I've heard you sing my dear, the most beautifull songs in the seven seas," he said, starting to circle around her like a shark, "I envy that voice, I would like to have it myself, singing on land isn't like it is down here so you'll hardly need it, and how would you rather spend your days? Swimming around singing to yourself alone, or having adventures above the shore on a pirate ship?" she swallowed, watching the merman conjure up a quill and a scroll, handing the quill to her, "It's just a standard contract I promise, it just says that I'm giving you legs so that you can be with your true love and you'll give up your voice and tail in return, simple, really," she swallowed again, uncertainty creeping under her skin, "I'll even sweeten the deal for you, how about instead of a human I make you... a faery? You can have the magic right away and then earn your wings later, it'll be like having a tail but in the air rather than underwater," he explained, she swallowed, staring at the contract as her hand moved towards it, squid ink dripping off the quill like ichor as she made her decision_

"How did Stiles screw you over exactly?" Kira asked curiously as Issac paced around the den, "He tricked me!" he huffed back, "Obviously, care to expand on that?" Derek frowned, Issac sighed and leaned against the wall, mouth twitching irritably as he did, "When Stiles was younger he had problems controlling his powers, his mother died when he was very young and as he got older his growing magic became harder and harder to control, when he was fifteen I heard him calling out for someone, anyone to aid him, so I offered my services, said I would train him, help him master his magic, and all he had to do was tell me his name," he said, "So that you could enter his dreams and feed on him from the shadows," Derek concluded, "That's usually how our kind work these days yeah, we hate doing it that way but it's a survival technique... and the rotten imp tells me 'Stiles'! I figure alright, it's a weird name, but that's what his father calls him it must be his real name right? Wrong, incidentally, and so I gave up MY name not thinking he was smart enough to do anything with it, he wanted my trust so I gave him an inch and he took a thousand miles," he seethed, "So Stiles isn't his real name?" Scott asked in confusion, "Apparently not, I tried to enter his dreams that night and nothing happened, so I asked him about it the next day and he laughed it off, said 'my real name is too atrocious to curse anyone with hearing' and that was that," "But atleast he didn't do anything on purpose," Kira reasoned, "Oh I'm getting there," Issac huffed back, "I thought the same too at first and then he figured out I was an Incubus and he decided to invoke my name! Had me tied to him for months forcing me to teach him how to control his magic and what's WORSE is that now we're tied together for all of eternity, if he calls, I have to answer, doesn't mean I have to do what he wants, but I have to answer, I'm on a leash because of that idiot!" he growled, "Sounds like you got what you deserve for trying to trick and sexually manipulate a child," Derek grunted, "Wouldn't YOU try to manipulate a lamb if there was a better chance in catching it and you were going to starve without it?" Issac asked, "I never said I wouldn't, but I wouldn't bemoan the consequences if the lamb ended up getting revenge," he shrugged back, his eye twitched and his lip curled, "I just flat don't believe you...."

_The transformation was painfull, horrible, agony upon agony, it felt as if her tail was being split in two and the scales were being ripped off of her body one by one, it felt like a hot burning iron was being shoved down her throat and every breath she took only made it hurt worse, it was an indescribable pain that kept her bordering between conscious and unconscious yet she couldn't bring herself to sleep, it was overwelming, and when it finally ended, when she finally opened her eyes, she was staring into two crystal blue pools, but they weren't pools of water as she was used to... "You," was all the pirate breathed at first, and Lydia smiled, a crooked, weak smile, as she rasped a quiet "You yourself," back at him, and she supposed the agony was worth it, she had what she wanted, for now, for this breif moment in time, she thought she had what she wanted_

No matter how many years passed, that uneasy feeling remained entirely uneasy, her shoes clicked against the stone in front of her and she swallowed sharply as she stared at the peircing brown eyes in front of her, no ... no.... she had to breathe, she had to focus, she could not be afraid, the pain that this man has sent her through- that these MEN have put her through- will not be surfacing today, "Ah, Lydia, what is it I can do for you?" came the same smooth voice that offered her a deal all those years ago, "I want to make another deal," she said quietly, "Speak up dear, I can't hear you," "I said... I want to make another deal! Danny! I want to make another deal!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, **Dark!Danny is officially a thing** , if that bothers you I'm sorry I didn't put it in the tags, I wanted to avoid spoilers as much as possible
> 
> And it should surprise no one what Danny's lines are from and what this is based on but in case it does... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyFVG4VfPmg
> 
> Also I wish I had been able to find reasons to put in more about Kira's skulk and their lil orphanage but sadly it isn't mentioned as much as I'd like it to be


	8. Dark Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, Stiles and Lydia made a deal with darkness that would change the story drastically...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a little Jydia and alot of dark!Danny

"Danny!" Stiles' voice bellowed as he marched into the entrance to the cave, just as he expected, he was met with a pair of brown eyes and a smug grin, "If you're looking to rescue the little mermaid I'm afraid it's too late, she's already made another deal with me," he chuckled, producing the contract as proof with a beautifully scripted _Lydia_ scrawled across it, Stiles bit his lip, swallowing harshly, "Yeah, to be honest I kind of thought she would do that," "And so why are you here then? Hoping against hope maybe? Or perhaps you want to try to break the contract, as if that could really happen?" Stiles shook his head, rejecting both ideas, "Then what is it? Why did you decide to come here?" Danny asked, curiosity sinking in his voice, "I came to trade myself, all of Lydia's deals... for me,"

~+~

"What did I ever do wrong anyway?" The silence was peirced by the sound of his voice and Lydia found herself swallowing sharply as she leaned against the stone wall, "Did it ever occur to you, Jackson, that I didn't leave because of you?" she asked, shrugging slightly and turning to stare across the "room" at him, "I'm my own person, for heaven's sake, everything I do doesn't relate back to you," her voice was barely above a wisper and it was stilted with anger and tight frustration, "You say that... but it didn't even WORK, True Love's Kiss was supposed to WORK Lydia, and when it didn't you ran away," he sneered, "I couldn't take it anymore Jackson! Locked up in this cave day after day after day... I'm a nature spirit, I have to be with nature, it KILLS me- it literally KILLS me to be away from nature for so long," "You could have come back," "I did come back, I'm here, I'm back," she replied quickly, "You're here against your will, because you made a deal with Danny, not for me," Jackson protested, "I'm sorry Jackson, I'm sorry that this isn't what I signed up for, I'm sorry that when I signed that contract I didn't know I was signing up to be a PRISONER! I-" "You didn't think you'd be getting THIS, just say it, SAY it Lydia!" Jackson shouted, standing up, "You signed that contract expecting you'd get someone normal, someone HUMAN instead of THIS! Instead of a BEAST like me and how could I expect you to stay anyway!? How could I expect a beauty like you to settle for what I've become?!" he roared, "It has nothing to do with you Jackson! I don't know why the kiss didn't work! I don't know! I left because of Danny, I left because I was trapped here!" she screamed back, rising to her feet, "So what's your grand plan now Lydia? You're going to trap yourself here with me again because it's convenient for you now?" "Because I'm CONSENTING to it now Jackson!" she shouted, "You say you loved me once but we both know it was a lie, you ran away the moment you could out of fear didn't you? DIDN'T YOU!? You couldn't stand looking at me every day! And if you could, if you REALLY didn't care, if you 'loved me' why the hell didn't the curse break!?" "I don't know why!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, face red and body shaking, her eyes swelling with tears and her voice starting to quiver and shake, "I .. don't know why, you're asking me why an ancient magic wasn't dissolved away with a little kiss? From a girl who was brought here under false circumstances and expected to cure you to earn my freedom back? True... love's... KISS... have you ever heard a bigger lie?" she breathed, the tears starting to fall freely now, "I loved you Jackson, but I loved myself- respected myself- too, and I was a fish out of water who didn't know past the very basics of magic expected to be this... this... miracle on two legs who made everything ok again, and I can't do that, I'm not a freaking miracle, I'm a person,"

~+~

"You really are hilarious Stilinski, you want me to release Lydia from all of her contracts- just start over with her again, return her to being a mermaid and all that, AND help you with this war? You're funny, what price could you pay that would be high enough to buy all that?" Stiles huffed and rolled his eyes, leaning back on his hands, shrugging, "That's a really good question, see I seem to remember the reason behind you tricking that poor little mermaid to begin with was to release your platonic lifemate from some sort of ... what is it? Ugliness curse or something?" "Don't downplay it, he's a KANIMA, one of the worst curses that could ever be inflicted on someone," he hissed, "Right, and I could potentially reverse that curse," he said simply, the two stared at eachother, neither giving in to the pressure of the other's gaze, "I thought it was only reversible through an act of true love," Danny finally said, "Maybe, and the true love thing has always proven true, but there IS a spell I can use, it may not be a 'cure' in the same way true love is, but I can lock away the kanima, return his outside appearance to the way it was before and lock away the danger, prevent him from shifting or going out of control or whatever, better than you can do- what with the darkness and all, you'd just screw it up," he shrugged, there was a pause, a silence that fell over them for a moment, "Break my curse as well, and you'll have a deal," he proposed, "Break YOUR curse? You mean the one binding you to this cave oh dark lord? Yeah, I don't think so," he snorted, "Then no deal," "Fine, I'll just break Lydia's deal then, lead me to the lizard and you'll have to turn her back to her normal self after that," he shrugged, "I don't think you understand Stiles, you have to remove this curse," "No! It's keeping you locked up in a little cage so you'll stop hurting people, I'm not going to wreck my mother's work for that! I'm not going to break my MOTHER'S final spell! She did this for the best, and I won't..." he trailed off, not even knowing how he had planned to end that sentence, really, he should have known coming here would be this way... "Then what if I sweeten the deal?" "You can't sw-" "Oh I think I can, for example," he mused, grinning and glancing at him like a predator behind bars, "I could tell you where your father and the sister of that werewolf boyfreind of your's are..."

~+~

"It's SO cute!" Scott cried as he watched the little fox kit sniff up towards him, "And fluffy!" he added, reaching out to gently pet the baby fox, "Aren't they adorable?!" Kira grinned back, "They really are! So then does this mean that all shapeshifters are able to interact with the animals they turn into?" "Oh no not at all, that isn't quite the way it works, but since we're living in more or less a fox hole sometimes they like to visit," she hummed back with a shrug, just as Scott was about to question her further, he heard footsteps behind him and turned around, just in time to see Allison round the corner with a torch, "Allison?" he breathed, "Prince Scott..." there was just a beat of a pause before she took in a deep breath and began to scream, "I FOUND HIM!! I'VE LOCATED THE PRINCE!! SEND HEL-" "No! No Allison stop! Stop stop stop!" he cried anxiously, she paused, turning to him with confusion, "What? I.. I'm helping, I'm trying to-" "No Allison you don't understand, they didn't kidnap me! I... left willingly," she tensed, flinching back and tightening her jaw, "Why? What did they...? What kind of lies have they told you!?" "No lies," Kira said quietly, cuddling the fox kit close to her chest, "Allison please... just... just stay a moment, just a moment and hear me out... please listen to me things aren't as they seem, there's something that... that isn't right here, please stay," she swallowed, glancing upwards and taking a breath, "I don't think they heard me..." she muttered, "Will you hear me?" Scott asked quietly, she bit her lip, clearly not sure of her answer, before giving a slow nod and walking forward, sitting on the ground in front of him, "Allison... I know what I'm about to say is going to sound crazy, but I promise, I swear to you... every word is true,"

~+~

"What have you DONE Stiles?" Lydia hissed as she glared at the witch, gritting her teeth, Stiles looked down, rubbing his hands together nervously, "I said.. what did you do!?" she shouted, "Stiles did the only thing he COULD do given the circumstances," Danny smirked, rubbing his wrists dramatically, "I do LOVE feeling freedom again, it's been too long," he hummed, clicking his tounge, "You let him go... you let him go!? Stiles! How could you do that!? How could you release the darkest sorcerer of our time over a TAIL!?" she screamed, "It isn't just a tail! It's the entire WAR Lydia and it isn't going to matter much if he's out running the streets because every non-human thing out there is going to be in a gigantic URN! Live today, figure out how to not die tommorrow, I think that's the motto we should be going by here," he huffed, "Stiles you don-" "What? You don't think I know EXACTLY what this guy is capable of? My MOM is the one who sealed him in! I just had to BREAK the last spell of her life and you don't think that's TEARING ME UP inside!?" he shouted, running his hands down his face and shaking his head, "I can't argue about this Lydia, I can't... this is what had to happen, I just... took everything I could get," he said quietly, holding out a small, seashell necklace to her and waiting on her to take it, Lydia swallowed, took a breath, and reached out, the temptation was too great, she wanted her life back, and here it was, offered to her on a platter, she didn't know if Stiles was right or wrong, but she knew the deal was done and refusing this would only do more harm than good, so she held the necklace, beginning to put it on when she was interrupted, "Wait," Jackson said quickly, taking her hand, "What is it?" she asked briskly, "Here... take this," he said quietly, handing her another necklace, this one however a small bottle full of beautifull lavender powder- Pixie Dust, "Why are you giving me this?" "Because you'll lose your faery magic without it," he replied, looking down, "Why would you help me? I couldn't help you, I didn't help you, so why?" "Because we're fighting in a war, you won't be any use to us without faery magic and the ability to walk on land," he huffed back, Lydia didn't especially believe him, but he had a point, they would need everyone they could get ahold of to help them fight and swimming away to live in peace under the sea would do no one any good, it was for the best... slowly, she put on the Pixie Dust necklace, and then the shell necklace over it, and as soon as it dropped, the moment the shell touched her skin, a brilliant light surrounded her and the melodic tune of her last song swirled in the air, making her gasp as it flew down her throat, the light began to seep into her skin and she felt the urge to run, like a burning in her legs, as she ran to the edge of the cave, heart hammering in her chest as she stared down at the water below, "Go on Lydia, you deserve it," Stiles smiled, she took a glance at him, uncertain, "I'm fine, it's all good, when you're done with your swim we can go back ok?" she gave a hesitant nod before jumping into the water, her legs began to burn more as her tail reformed in their place and she inhaled sharply as the water passed over her newly formed gills, and for the first time in so many years, she opened her mouth and sang- and it was beautifull, it was hypnotic, it was everything a mermaid song should be, and for the first time in so long, she felt right with herself again

~+~

"You really believe all this don't you?" Allison sighed, shaking her head slowly, "Allison it's true-" "How do you know? What proof do you have? Prince Scott-" "It's... please... just Scott, please," he insisted, she looked down, swallowing and trying again, "Scott... how can you believe any of this? They've been known for trickery!" she said passionately, "But... it isn't right, what's happening to them, being killed just for existing? That's wrong Allison! That's so wrong!" "I'm sure that isn't what happens," she said smoothly, "Really? How sure are you?" boomed a voice from around the corner, the two paused, glancing up as Derek strode towards them, "I want to know if there's anything I could have done, what it IS that I could have done, to deserve this?" he asked sharply, quickly pulling his shirt up to show just the wound over his stomach- it was the only one still dark and painfull, the rest were healing or already gone, if the look on Allison's face says anything, it screams of pure recognition and sinking shame, "That burn, it's-" "From a hunter's baton, that's right," it was a foreign concept to him that the hunters hadn't already taught her their brutality but he considered that maybe they were waiting, the way his parents taught him to hunt, beneath the stinging leather of her gloves he could tell she had gentle hands and the look of disgrace she was sporting screamed of a conscious that most hunters long abandoned, maybe they were trying to ease Allison into the hunt, get her so used to things so that when it came time to introduce her to the REAL hunting- the mass murder, that is- she wouldn't struggle with it, he wasn't sure, hunters were such a mysterious thing to him, but she atleast seemed less likely to start calling the others to their location now, "Allison please... trust me, I know what I'm talking about, I can't... I WON'T go back to the palace, I won't be part of killing innocent people, haven't you ever met someone who isn't human who... who you loved anyway? Who you knew was good anyway?" she flinched at that, a blip of recognition running across her as she swallowed, looking down and sighing lowly, "I'll detract the others from this location... but I'll be back, every day, to check on you," she said with a deep frown, staring at Derek with an odd mix of guilt and suspicion and getting up, "I hope you're wrong Scott, but not wrong enough that you've fallen into a trap, I'll investigate on my end too and be back later today with whatever I can find," she promised, Scott nodded, waving to her as she headed down the path towards the nearest exit, Derek silently following after her to listen in and insure that she tells no one else, "Scott? Are you ok?" Kira asked after a moment, Scott shook his head slowly, glancing at her and smiling, "No, but I think I will be,"

~+~

"Well as touching as this has been, I think we really should be going, don't you Jackson?" Danny smiled as he held his hand out for the kanima, Jackson stood, placing his half-shifted hand in Danny's and glancing at Stiles with a smirk, "See you later _Witchling_ ," he grinned, Stiles stayed silent, watching as Danny summoned a rope and gripped onto it, trying to step down but pausing, frowning and trying again, "What have you done now? I thought we agreed to break the curse," Danny sneered, "I did break the curse, as promised..... I just put in a new curse instead," he smirked, Danny gritted his teeth, glaring at the witch, "What KIND of curse?" he growled, "Oh just a simple little diddy I like to call 'Wherever I go you go and wherever I don't go you have to suck it up because you're bound to me for life now'," he grinned, "You put a BINDING SPELL on me!?" Danny shouted, "Yep, you may not be bound to this CAVE anymore... but did you REALLY think I'd let you go free?" he grinned, tsking his tounge, "I really thought you'd be smarter than that Danny Boy," he chuckled, "And what's your big plan Stiles? To scyphen off my magic- my own darkness- to feed your own?" he guessed, "Oh no ofcourse not, I'm just doing this until I can seal you away again, but you struck a deal with me Danny and you can't reneg on your deal," he grinned, Jackson hissed, stalking forward with his extended claws, "Want me to kill him Danny?" he snarled, "No, don't you understand how binding spells work? If he dies, I die, and vice versa, the idiot is really putting himself at risk," "No I'm not, I tied myself to the greatest, darkest sorcerer in the world, that's pretty smart if you ask me, Danny is probbably IMMORTAL by now," "And you know that my own darkness will infect you over time?" he asked, Stiles looked down and swallowed, sighing slightly, "Yeah, I do, but I have to do what I have to do, so come on," he said, starting for the edge of the cave, "Where are we going?" Stiles shrugged, gripping the rope tightly, "You could call it a base of operations,"

~+~

"I really hope she believes me," Scott said quietly, looking down and rubbing the back of his neck a bit awkwardly, "I think she will, she seems like a really good person," Kira smiled reassuringly, "She is... I mean.. I know I haven't talked to her that much but I can just tell... she really is," Scott agreed, "Who's a good person? Is it me? I want to say it's me," he heard, looking up and smiling, "Stiles! We were just talking about Allison, who'd you bring with you?" he asked brightly, Derek stood, a look of dread on his face, "Stiles... please don't tell me that's who I think it is..." he said anxiously, "Oh you mean the first witch ever to commit _Tourner dans le vide_ and become intrenched in eternal darkness? That's me," Danny smiled from behind Stiles, "I don't suppose THIS is the stupid thing you were worried about Lydia doing is it?" he asked blandly, "Oh no what Lydia did was MUCH worse, I had to undo that," he shrugged, Lydia glared at him, stepping a bit faster to walk closer to his side, "All I did was try to bargain his help in the war in return for my staying with Jackson, YOU are the idiot who offered to free him," she hissed, "Wait... what's going on?" Scott asked obliviously, "It's ... kind of a long story buddy," Stiles replied gently, "Basically your freind here released the most powerfull witch in the world- and me, the guy dragged along for the ride," Jackson huffed as he slinked out of the shadows, Kira tried- and failed- to hold in a gasp and Scott just blanched as if he had seen something disturbing, "What? You've never seen a half-shifted kanima before?" he snapped, "Actually....no.... I haven't..." Scott admitted, Jackson took a moment, inhaling, trying to get a scent, before turning to Danny and pointing a finger at Scott, "What is this?" "That's a human," "Why?" "Well I'm guessing because that would be the prince," there was silence for only a beat, "Why is it HERE?" "You know I'm really starting to feel insulted over here," Scott chimed in, Lydia groaned, preparing to bust this entire thing up, when more footsteps came around the corner and Kira jumped to her feet, "Malia!" she called excitedly, rushing past the other guests and grabbing the newcomer in a tight hug, "Easy there Vixen," she said with a stiff smile, "Sorry, sorry, it's just.. it's been three days and I was getting worried..." the kitsune replied, turning quickly and grabbing Malia's hand, "Malia I have so much to tell you.. but first I want to introduce you, everyone, this is my girlfreind Malia, I have a feeling she can help us," "Help with what?" Malia asked in confusion, "With forgetting my existence probbably," she heard, glancing behind her as a boy stumbled that way, "I told you not to come," "I wanted to, I like Kira better than the rest of the skulk," "Yes, don't we all?" she grumbled, jabbing a thumb his way, "This is Liam, my twin brother, I would have been more sure to leave him with the skulk if I knew _people_ were going to be here..." she commented, "It's ok, it wasn't exactly... planned.." she said slowly, "Wait a minute... I recognize you..." Liam said slowly, taking a step forward and snapping his fingers, "You're-" "Yes, I am the dark one, but don't be alarmed, I'm here to help," Danny said with a small grin, ".... Actually I was talking about the prince," Liam frowned, "You're harboring the dark one AND the prince? Kira..." Malia said worriedly, fingers curling slightly as she reached out to touch the other, she had never exactly been good with touch, always too much or not enough, it had her struggling to know when was and wasn't ok to do something and so more times than not she just opted not to do anything at all, "It's a really, REALLY long story... is there any way I can tell you over dinner?" she asked hopefully, Malia nodded, making the decision for both she and her brother, "Ofcourse, yeah... anything you want,"

~+~

"So ... you're involved in this now? This... war?" Malia asked quietly, staring listlessly across the room, "Basically, but I think we sort of all are, now that they think Scott has been kidnapped they're not going to leave any of us alone until they have him again, and even then they'll probbably use this as an excuse to go on an even bigger hunting binge," Kira replied a bit awkwardly as she handed Malia a bowl of stew, "Right... well we'll help you obviously," she said with determination, "You will?" Kira asked in surprise, "Why isn't that obvious to you? Honestly it's like you don't even know me at all," she sighed back, "Sorry, I just... I don't know," she said shyly, "It's fine Kira," Malia chuckled, "So am I going to be the one to bring this up then?" Danny said suddenly, leaning against a wall next to the stove, "Bring what up?" Scott asked in confusion, "The other reason Stiles bargained with me- besides the power and restoring the little mermaid here to her full self," he hummed, beginning to smirk, "What are you talking about?" Derek frowned, Stiles stepped forward, glaring at Danny, "I was going to give it a little longer... see if I could find a spell to back up his claims but... he says he knows where Laura and my dad are,"


	9. Down The Rabbithole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, The Big Bad Wolf lead a group into Wonderland...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think Wonderland is my favorite place to write about, anything can go- anything DOES go- it's so beautifully twisted, I'm tempted to do a Wonderland-only Sterek fic in fact

There's a saying about there being volume in silence, that silence is deafening, that the words unsaid- the words that are silent- are the words that mean the most and should be spoken the loudest, sometimes Stiles contemplates the truth behind that, he wonders if he can ever raise his voice loudly enough to drown the silence out, other times he decided that the sayings were true, because there's nothing louder than silent tension, "Derek?" he needed to break the silent tension, "Yeah?" the other sighed, "Are you awake?" "No Stiles, I'm talking in my sleep," he grunted back, "Oh..." Stiles sounded sincerely dissappointed, "I do that too sometimes," he said quietly, and Derek isn't sure how seriously Stiles took him so he rolls over to face him, the sleeping arrangements underground were cramped at best but they were lucky enough to only have to share space with eachother, Stiles' binding spell that he had locked Danny into crossed the span of several yards thankfully, "What is it Stiles?" there was a pause, and the sound of fidgeting, but eventually Stiles spoke, "Do you think I did the right thing?" "You mean unleashing ancient evil for the greater good?" "... Well, technically Danny isn't ancient... but yeah more or less, I just... I want you to be honest with me ok?" "Even if you don't like my answer?" Derek muttered tiredly, "Yeah, even if I hate your answer, be honest, be as brutally honest as you can," Derek shifted, wiping the sleep from his eyes that he didn't realize had started to collect and stared at Stiles in the darkness, "Even if it makes you feel like a horrible person?" he can see Stiles flinch and hears him swallow, "Yeah, yeah even if it makes me feel terrible.... honesty is something my dad and I always meant to work on and never really did," "What do you mean?" Derek asked, sitting up on his elbows to get a better look at Stiles, the witch squirmed, shifting onto his side and glancing up, "I just.. I mean it isn't like we LIED to eachother really, exactly, it's like the little things you know? 'Yes son today went well I'm fine' but I could still see the bruises on his shoulder, or 'Yeah Dad I totally got some new customers they should order something soon' when I hadn't even left for the village that day, you know, it's the small stuff, the stuff we know we lied about, he had bruises and I had no cash and there were other things too but .... I don't know, I guess maybe it sounds crazy but I regret that, I wish we had just been honest with eachother, I wish we had just SAID things, and so... I don't want to keep being caved in under lies and half-truths Derek... just tell me even if it hurts me to hear it, did I do the right thing?" Derek inhaled deeply, settling lower to lay on his stomach as he glanced at Stiles, "My honest answer? I don't know, I don't have a single idea, I didn't even know anything about this dark wizardry crap until you mentioned it to me last night... I can't decide if you did the right thing or not because I don't know very much about it," "Well... if you had to guess?" he asked quietly, "What would be the worst case scenario if you hadn't released him?" "Um... we fail and the king decides to launch a mass massacre on the entire supernatural population and human sympathizers? Not alot different from what he's doing now but you know, more public? Like the torches and pitchforks sorta thing..." "And what about releasing Danny? What's the worst case scenario there?" "That he'd kill off all the humans and may take some of us down with him, probbably," Stiles shrugged, "So no matter what you did the result would have been simalar, an entire population would be at risk of genocide, it's just a matter of us or them," Stiles swallowed, running his hands through his hair, "I kind of feel terrible for choosing us... I mean... it's not like I was holding my finger over a trigger.. I just ... at the time it felt like the right thing," "Maybe it IS the right thing, maybe Danny has changed or isn't as bad as people say he is, or maybe... maybe we can take him, maybe it's just better than the alternative," Derek shrugged back, "Maybe," Stiles muttered, reaching out and curling his fingers around Derek's hand, the werewolf flinched slightly, tension pent up in his body, but started to slowly relax at the contact, they didn't speak any further that night, falling asleep as they were, it was true, Stiles supposed, sometimes actions speak louder than words

~+~

"Are we ready?" Stiles asked with a deep breath as he glanced at his companions, "Yeah, we're good to go," Derek nodded, "I think we're fine," Lydia added, "I'm going too," Jackson said immediately, taking a step closer to the four of them, "Ah, no, you're staying here, the less people on this trip the better," Stiles grumbled, "Lydia gets to go," the blonde sneered, "LYDIA also has magic so if Danny gives us any trouble she can help me keep him in shape," Stiles shrugged, "Who made you king of the mission anyway?" Jackson grunted, "The same person who decided it was high time I shoved my foot right up your-" "It only makes sense," Derek interrupted, "Stiles is the one who released Danny and Danny knows where our families are," he shrugged, Stiles grinned smugly and turned on his heel, "Exactly what the wolf said!" he added, marching towards the nearest exit of the fox hole and pausing, turning to Derek, "You uh... don't happen to know where we're going do you Big Guy?" he grinned sheepishly, Derek just nodded slowly, mouth tight and eyes firm as he stepped forward, "Wonderland,"

~+~

Allison took a breath and fastened her cloak around her, pulling the hood up as quickly as she could and heading for the door, she just had to make it a little further... "Allison, where are you going?" she cursed to herself, turning on her heel and smiling awkwardly, "Aunt Kate... I was just going out for a bit," "Out?" Kate echoed, "Yes... to get a better idea of the lands, we're still looking for the prince right? Well the less time I have to think about the map the more time I can devote to actually FINDING the prince," she explained, hoping that Kate couldn't catch onto the lie, and when the older woman just smiled and stepped forward, Allison took a breath of releif, "You remind me so MUCH of myself when I was your age," she hummed, setting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a slight squeeze, "I'll keep you covered, just don't take too long ok?" she said with a wink, Allison smiled, nodding and racing out of the house, Kate stayed back, visions danced through her head of black hair and green eyes, of pointy teeth and sharp claws, of fires and matches, and she smiled as she started back towards the kitchen, "SO, so much of myself..."

~+~

"How exactly do you know anything about Wonderland anyway? It's always been kept such a tight secret, what really goes on there I mean, there are lots of rumors and misinformation set out to misguide people," Lydia mentioned as they walked, "Trust me, there's very little 'misinformation' about Wonderland, all of those crazy, wacky things you've heard about? They're all true, believe me," he sighed, "I should know, I used to live there," he muttered, "Woah... you used to LIVE there?" Stiles asked in a huff, "When I was a child, for a few years yes," "Alright, here's a fun question... why?" he asked with a frown, Derek took a deep breath, pausing in front of the entrance to a forest, "My mother was an Alice," "WHAT? Your mother is one of the greatest storybook heros of all time!?" "No no," he sighed, "Mom isn't THE Alice, she's AN Alice, 'Alice' isn't a name, it's a title, like a knight or a king? Alices are responsable for saving Wonderland from whatever given deed is happening at the time, Mom was the 84th," "Wow," Stiles breathed in amazement, "It's... difficult, Wonderland is good to folks like us, they don't care what you are.... but there are so many political battles every few days and the confusion as to what Wonderland even IS... I suppose we could stay there as a last resort, the White Queen DOES favor my family, but in some ways it'd be just as hard as it is here..." he mused, kicking some bushes aside to reveal a stray rabbit hole, "No no I understand, it's... hard picking the less of two evils," Stiles muttered quietly, Derek just grunted, gesturing to the rabbit hole, "Alright, who's first?"

~+~

"How exactly are you planning to harbor this fugitive anyway?" Jackson huffed as he glared over his shoulder at Scott, "We're going to help him blend in with us, teach him how to act like a non-human and how to defend himself so when we cover him with a Glamour no one will be able to tell the difference," Kira explained as she finished sweeping up the area she had cleared out in front of her, "And then what? Let him keep believing this fantasy that he's one of us? 'Oh I don't want to be human, I want to let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen firing arrows into the sunset', please," he snorted, Malia glared over at him, fingers twitching, "I'm not sure what you were trying to accomplish with that _Lizard_ but you sounded pretty stupid," she commented, "Malia be nice," Kira said gently, "Aw come off it," Jackson grunted back, "Look... I know I'm not one of you, and I don't WANT to be -... I mean... not that there's anything WRONG with that or... I LIKE being human, I do, I just don't think that the human race has been behaving correctly ok? I just want to help you guys, that's all, I don't want anything from it," Scott said sincerely, "And we're going to help you with that, despite what some of us may say," Kira smiled, "Well if you're going to teach him self-defense, you might need some help, he's sort of clumsy," Kira heard, smiling as she turned around, "Allison! You made it back!" "Ofcourse," she nodded, striding towards the small circle and giving Scott a tiny smile, "I wouldn't miss it for the world,"

~+~

"Oh GOD my head... my head...... my poor aching head...." Stiles groaned miserably as he sat up slowly, rubbing his hands down his face, "Where are we?" Lydia asked quietly as she too sat up and rubbed her sore head, note to selves, travel through rabbit hole is somehow even less ideal than dropping down a foxhole... "Look around, take a guess," Derek replied, apparently the only one unaffected as he was already on his feet judging the area, Lydia took a breath, pulling her hair into a ponytail with the tie she brought with her and surveying the area, "This room... it's just a bunch of doors," she observed, Derek nodded slowly, taking a step forward, "Exactly, they call this The Observatory, it's... you know about different worlds right? Different lands, different... dimensions?" the other three gave small nods, none speaking, "This room is in the center of several of them, all intersecting here, the doors lead to different universes, not all universes- obviously- but around a dozen, maybe closer to two dozen, I never counted, I was never paitient enough," he observed, "Some of them look kind of obvious," Stiles hummed, crossing his arms over his chest and shifting on his feet as he tried to see the door behind Derek, "Glad you can tell, that green, sparkling one there? Leads to Oz, the Emerald City specifically, the one behind Lydia that's in greyscale? That would lead to The Land Without Color, I don't know the official name for it," he listed, "Yeah and the one over there with the sword painted on it and the silver lining? That leads to Camelot right? The one with the vines and the rings carved into the wood leads to... Mordor? Is that right?" Stiles asked, Derek smiled slightly, looking impressed, "Close, just Middle Earth in general, I have no idea where exactly it leads... you know alot about world jumping?" he asked with a curious look, Stiles just shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck, "I get alot of travelers in my village, alot of maps, I like to research... you'd be surprised how much magic centers on travel," he added, "You see the door with the ... shimmering, galaxy like appearance?" he asked, pointing over Danny's shoulder, "That one leads to a ... a road map of universes, an endless, limitless space of doors, they call it sub-" "Can you two please nerd-flirt later? Some of us have things to do," Danny huffed impatiently, Derek blushed, clearing his throat and starting towards the end of the room, "So wich door leads to Wonderland?" Lydia asked, looking around for some sort of symbol to point it out, "This one," Derek replied, pointing to a tiny door, barely as big as his foot, right behind him, "WHY?" Stiles groaned, because ofcourse it was the only door in here that looked impossible as hell to go through, ofcourse, "Wonderland is very secretive, the magic there is pure and addictive, like a drug, they don't want tourists, the last time that happened an evil queen cast a curse upon the land that forced it to bleed magic into her world, it seriously damaged Wonderland more than once before finally it was removed, another time this servant girl from another land ended up becoming queen and ruled in tyranny for decades and- ... let's just say it isn't a great history," he mused, "So how are we supposed to get down there? How is ANYONE supposed to visit EVER?" "With these," Derek replied, heading to a small table in the center of the room, the only thing there that wasn't a door, and holding up a bottle of blue liquid that had "DRINK ME" hanging on a tag from the cap, and peice of cake that had a tag sitting in the icing with "EAT ME" scrawled across it, Stiles grinned, stepping closer, "Ohhh, 'eat me' huh Hale?" he snickered, "Don't," Derek grumbled, "How is anyone supposed to connect those dots?" Danny asked with an eyeroll, "That's what makes someone an Alice, the unbound curiosity to throw all caution to the wind and try anything and everything," he shrugged, stepping closer, "I cannot stress this enough, take ONE sip of this, and ONE bite of this, do not take any more or any less of either, or you WILL be stuck in a very unfortunate situation," he warned, "Why do I feel like you speak from experience?" Danny teased, taking a pinch from the cake and placing it in his pocket, "My SISTER has the experience actually, she thought it'd be hilarious to be two inches tall for a day and- ... it doesn't matter, just take my word for it," he sighed, making sure Lydia and Stiles had their peices before taking his own and putting the rest of the peice back on the table, Derek glanced at them, hesitating before handing the bottle to Stiles, the witch looked mildly confused at being given the drink first but shrugged it off, taking a breath and tilting the bottle back as he took a sip, handing it back to Derek as he started to shrink, the drink actually tasted pretty good, almost like cranberries, the effect of the drink, however, wasn't so accommodating, shrinking was an extremely foreign feeling, it didn't hurt but it didn't feel GOOD either, it was dizzying and nauseating and when he opened his eyes again and saw everyone else shrinking too it sort of made his head hurt, Derek waved them towards the door and Stiles was increasingly surprised at how little ground they could cover at this height, what would have taken maybe four steps before was a full on trek now and it had him hoping that once they were in Wonderland they wouldn't have to stay small like this, luckily his wish was granted, as soon as they passed through the door Derek stopped them, holding out his peice of cake, "Alright, let's get this over with," he sighed, biting into it, Stiles was too distracted to notice at first, he was too busy staring at the surroundings, the bright bursts of colors and gigantic mushrooms and how everything seemed topsy turvsey- "Stiles, come on," Lydia said softly, tapping his shoulder as she took her bite, Stiles just nodded eagerly, copying her and finding that the feeling of growing was even worse than the feeling of shrinking, instead of a wirlwind of changing scenery he was met with wibbling wobbling changes of skylines and the feeling like his bones were creaking, it was all very disorienting... "Where do we need to go?" Danny asked immediately, causing Stiles to glance over his shoulder at him, he tried to focus his eyes on something, one area to help calm his spinning area- that area was Derek, "The White Queen's palace, it's a ways away from here, about three days walk," he sighed, "Well why walk when you can fly?" Danny smirked, snapping his fingers as a pure black broom dripping with flakes of magic appeared out of thin air, Stiles sighed and rolled his eyes, honestly, the power of being a dark sorcerer... "Miss Lydia, would you like to catch a ride on my broom?" he asked with a small smirk, Lydia wrinkled her nose and sighed, stepping away from the three and holding her hand out, "Summon broom," she demanded, and in a gust of pink smoke a broom appeared in her hand, "Here, it's from my house," she said, handing it to Stiles and striding over to Danny, "Someone has to take the flightless werewolf, so I guess I'll ride with you," she mused, settling in a side-saddle sort of way on the broom, Danny just snickered as it levitated, noticing with a slightly impressed feeling that the jostling of the levitation didn't so much as shake her ankles from where they were crossed, it didn't surprise him, ofcourse Lydia wouldn't let herself be shaken by any force- natural or not, Derek, however, wasn't quite as coordinated, "Come on Big Guy, I won't let you fall off," Stiles grinned, extending his hand to Derek, the werewolf swallowed, staring at the broom with hesitance, "I... don't know...." he muttered, "Oh come on, everyone deserves the chance to fly, don't you want to try it? Defying gravity? How cool is that?" he encouraged, the werewolf was still uncertain, but placed his hand in Stiles' anyway and gasped as the witch easily brought him onto the broom, his hands scrambling to find purchase somewhere and settling for Stiles' thighs as he moved closer and wrapped his arms tightly around Stiles' waist, "Easy there Big Bad Wolf, you're ok, I'm not going to let you go splat, I promise," Stiles grinned, "Just obey the speed limits," Derek muttered anxiously as the broom rose higher and higher into the air (and with it, Derek's heart into his throat, he never realized he had a fear of heights, he never really had a REASON to realize he had a fear of heights... or maybe it was just a fear of being miles into the air essentially sitting on a TWIG....) Stiles just laughed, he laughed so hard his ribs shook and it vibrated against Derek's face and arms, making him smile slightly into Stiles' back, maybe, just maybe, he could handle this "flying" thing after all....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes those are the references you think they are and they have only just BEGUN to appear


	10. How Is A Raven?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time Wonderland was a very wicked place...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How is a raven like a writing desk?
> 
>  
> 
> **Warning: Breif self-harm ahead, if that bothers you it won't hurt the story too much to just skip to the next chapter**
> 
>  
> 
> Derek being a Wonderland nerd is the thing I didn't know I needed until I wrote it and now I'm too in love with it

"Are you going to be ok there Derek?" Stiles asked with a small grin as he watched the werewolf stumble down from the broom, "I'll be fine, I just have to get my bearings," Derek muttered back, taking a shaking breath as he held his head, his entire body seemed to have a sort of quiver going through it and being on land again wasn't helping as much as he thought it would, ofcourse, leave it to Lydia to glide off of the broom gracefully and land on both feet like a cat, "It's that palace up there right?" Danny asked, pointing to the large white castle a few yards away, Derek gave a sharp nod, waving them to walk along the path with him, "I don't get it, Wonderland seems like a really nice place, how come your family didn't stay here?" Stiles asked in confusion, he may not have been here long but it seemed far more peacefull for magical kind than the world they lived in... "Because Wonderland has a twisted sense of humor," Derek huffed back, Stiles was a little confused but didn't press, it was Derek's scar and if he didn't want to bare it to Stiles that was his right, "It makes sense that Laura would come back here though don't you think? If she was being hunted and had to leave suddenly, it'd be familiar but still away from the chaos," he observed, Derek nodded slowly, looking pensive, "I agree, and if Laura IS here the White Queen will know, she was close to my mom," he mused, "That reminds me, what did your mother DO exactly to be considered an Alice?" Lydia asked curiously, "Mom was the one to set the Jabberwocky free in the Glum Forest," he replied, as if he really expected them to know what that meant, "I'm afraid I don't follow," Lydia frowned, "Didn't the Jabberwocky DIE a long time ago? I thought the first Alice killed it," Stiles pointed out, he was probbably the most well-versed person when it came to other worlds, but admittedly Wonderland had always stumped him, Derek paused mid-step, turning on his heel and giving Stiles an odd look, "Where on EARTH would you get an idea like that? No no, the Jabberwocky was a ... a PET of the Queen Of Hearts- an heirloom sort of creature, passed from one queen to the next for generations- and had never even been SEEN by an outsider until the fifty-second Alice, the Jabberwocky had gotten loose and the fifty-second Alice had to recapture it before it went on a rampage and fought with the native Bandersnatch again- horrible creature, by the way, don't let the big eyes and fur fool you- my mother was responsible for finally releasing the Jabberwocky from being a pet- after centuries ofcourse- and allowed it to roam free back where it belonged in the Glum Forest, see, the entire reason for the Jabberwocky's imprisonment was to open up the Glum Forest to lure in unsuspecting trespassers and have them devoured by gloom so that the swamp could absorb their cheerfullness and the Queen Of Hearts could drink it, awfull idea really, that woman wouldn't know cheer if she inhaled it- but I digress, the Jabberwocky is an instrument of fear to drive people AWAY from the Glum Forest and prevent-" "I don't think I have ever heard him say so many words at once before," Danny muttered to Lydia over his shoulder, the mermaid bit her lip, jabbing him lightly in the ribs, "Shush, this is interesting," "Can you understand even HALF of what he's saying?" the sorcerer snickered, this caused her to tighten her jaw, no, really, Derek had lost her miles back somewhere around the word "Bandersnatch" and how HE was keeping it all straight in his head she would never know, it must be a gift, Stiles on the other hand seemed to bounce along to it without missing a beat, he could just be acting, trying to humor Derek, after all Danny was right, in the days she had known him she had found the werewolf to be painfully quiet, always so choosey with his words as if he were afraid to pick the wrong one at any given time, she couldn't tell if he was swallowing his voice or if he just didn't know how to use it to begin with, but she found it terribly sad, the tense look on his face whenever he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to open his mouth, and for some reason, Wonderland had him chattering on like a bird, his hands moved in animated gestures as he tried to explain what Fickle Berries were, Stiles laughed like he understood every word- and maybe he did, Stiles was a fast learner, maybe there was a key to understanding this bizarre language that Lydia wasn't focused enough to pick up on yet- but it was a strange and beautifull sight to behold, a man who had long ago started up the practice of silence was brought to voice again and another who had since only laughed in sharp wips of sarcasm and irony was giggling and smiling like nothing she had ever seen, maybe it WAS the pure magic floating around Wonderland, intoxicating them like a drug and pulling them higher and higher as they walked, or maybe it was Derek's memories here, for all he bemoaned the idea of living here again he spoke about the history of this world as if it were his favorite thing, maybe it was, maybe the time he had spent here all those years ago meant something wonderfull to him, or maybe it was his mother, his pride in his mother having such a revered position and the history of this world being such a connection to her memory, she could say with some amount of certainty that she didn't think she'd ever find out for sure, she didn't even think Derek knew for sure himself, but it had her wishing the walk was longer, it made her feel like the steps they took were suspended in a timeless sort of way and maybe if they just kept walking this path time would stand still forever, the sight of a terrifying looking woman brought that quickly to a close, "-And that's why there would never again be Booheave Flowers planted in the Mischeif Garden as long as the Queen Of Diamonds had anything to say about it," Derek concluded as he stopped abruptly, Stiles had planned to ask more- especially about the Queen Of Diamonds, he had no IDEA Wonderland had more than two ruling monarchs but according to Derek there were more than he could count- but something about the woman guarding the wall in front of them screamed "DANGER" and he decided it was best to stay focused, "Kali," Derek greeted coldly, the woman looked up and gave a creepy grin full of sharp, pointed teeth that matched nicely with her long claws, "Ah, the Alice's son, why this displeasure this summer morn?" she chuckled, "I need to speak with the Queen," he said sternly, Kali tilted her head, her rabbit ears drooping to the side as she tutted her finger back and forth, "The rules are to be followed no matter Alice or Alistair and isn't that a fair sort of game?" Derek sighed loudly, fingers twitching, "We don't have time for this, tell the Queen that Talia's son is here and I need her help," he insisted, "But to interrupt the beauty of the coming day you bring with you bags of problems? Greet upon passage or die upon roses, sugar or salt my dear?" Stiles was able to- barely- keep up with the conversation, but he was starting to get lost in what the strange girl was saying, Derek, however, held strong, as if it was a second language to him- and on some level it very well might have been, "Fine then... passage we take upon the rules first given- no more, no less- to prepare an audience with Her Majesty in the dusk, call out your challengers," he huffed, Kali gave a sharp laugh and pulled a pocket watch from her vest, popping it open and dangling it in front of Derek like some sort of bait, "Late~ Late~ Don't be late~ If you miss this date you'll meet your fate~" she cackled, "Don't ring an early bird song when the swans are still upon the lake of glass, my dear, thou shouldn't cast stones," he hissed, Kali seemed to falter, snorting at him in displeasure and turning to the gate, snapping her fingers as a gust of smoke came from the ground and with it rose a massive, gargantuan.... frog, a frog that was atleast ten times Derek's size, "Derek.... what in the hell did you just say to her?" Stiles breathed from beside him, "It's the only way to see the Queen," he muttered back, "Ply with chartles and aching ribs to bounce upon the trails of snow, displeasure runs cold through the veins like ice," Kali hummed, leaning against the wall and starting to file her nails (where the file came from, Stiles didn't know, didn't WANT to know, and probbably didn't even care to think about) "Keep your tounge tucked under branches before it's struck by thorns and leaves you mute," Derek grumbled, "Will someone PLEASE tell me what in the hell is going on!?" Lydia finally screamed, Derek took a step back, glaring at the massive frog, "We have to make it laugh," there was a pause, before a loud "WHAT?!" radiated throughout the estate, "The frog! We ... there are tests we have to face in order to see the Queen, to show we aren't... theives... looking for magic, the first step is we have to make the frog laugh," he explained, Stiles clicked his tounge, staring at the very gloomy amphibian in front of him, "Oh yeah, peice of cake," he grumbled

~+~

"Good, just keep your elbows bent like that, stay steady, and.... shoot," A breath was held- two breaths, actually- as the arrow was let loose of the bow and it slammed into the side of the target- the last ring actually- in front of them, "Scott!! You did it! You made a target!" Allison cried excitedly, "I really did!" Scott shouted in equal happiness, "Yeah, on the outer ring from like two feet away," Jackson snorted as his tail swept across the ground boredly, "I'd like to see YOU try it," Allison pointed, "I'd like to see HIM kill someone with his fingernails but we don't all get what we want," the shifter shrugged, "Can you guys just TRY to get along?" Kira grimaced from her position across the room, "I keep trying," Scott pouted, "I nev-" "Someone is coming," Malia said suddenly, drawing everyone out of what they were doing and causing them to quiet as dirt crumbled from above them, Allison readied another arrow and aimed, swallowing just in case, "It might just be my mom, she and my skulk are due back any time now..." Kira said softly, what dropped from the ceiling was neither a kitsune nor a hunter, however, it was just Issac, "Oh, just you," Kira sighed, "Gee, thanks love," Issac snorted back, "O-Oh! No no I didn't mean it like that! I just-" "He knows what you meant," came another voice as someone else- a tall blonde with leather boots and red lips- landed gracefully in the den, "Issac just likes to make people miserable, ironic for a demon of sexual prowess," she hummed, "I'm NOT a demon," Issac grumbled back, "You technically are," came a third voice as another person- a dark-skinned massive man with bulky muscles and an unusual grace- landed in front of the other two, "I'm telling you I'm not! Incubi and Succubi have disowned that moniker! We-" "Wait... who are these two?" Allison asked with a suspicious frown, "Ah... sorry, sorry, should have warned you... these are my freinds Erica and Boyd, they want to help," he replied, the girl, Erica, smiled and gave a little wave wile Boyd just nodded in silent approval, "Not that we don't appreciate it... but when I told my mom I was having a few freinds stay with us I was only thinking of three, not a dozen...." Kira said with a quiet cringe, "We're sorry," Erica said sincerely, "They should stay though, as soon as the guards find Scott- and they will eventually- it'll be all out war, we have to be prepared," Issac insisted, "I can see where you're coming from, but... I just hope it doesn't cause problems," Kira said with a frown, Malia wrapped an arm around her, bringing her in and kissing her cheek, "Hey, it's gonna be fine ok? I promise, and you know I don't break promises," "I know," the kitsune replied with a small smile, "Um guys.... wasn't there another guy sitting over here?" Jackson piped up, pointing over to the cloth that Malia and Liam had just been sitting on, "Oh crap..." Malia groaned, "This can't be good... can it?" Scott asked worriedly, "No, it really isn't," Malia hissed, "Well can I help in any way?" Kira offered hopefully, "Just stay here and be safe ok? That's what I want, that's my deepest wish," Malia agreed, kissing the kitsune sweetly before darting towards the nearest exit

~+~

"Ok, well, making this thing laugh shouldn't be so hard, I have a ton of jokes I can try out," Stiles smiled, stepping forward only for Derek to gently push him back, "You don't understand, we don't JUST have to make him laugh... if we displease him..." "Off with our heads?" "More or less..." "Gottcha, ok, maybe jokes aren't the best way to go about this," he mused, thinking hard on that, "We don't want to use real humor," Derek interrupted, causing Stiles to stare at him in complete confusion, "What do you mean?" "I mean... this is Wonderland, everything is backwards and reversed and twisted.... some silly joke isn't going to get it, it has to be the opposite of funny," "Well what's the opposite of funny? Serious? Do we need to be extra serious at him?" Stiles huffed, Lydia shook her head slowly, closing her eyes as she tried to figure out the answer herself, "Maybe... I don't know... maybe make a serious statement? State our intentions?" she guessed, Danny stayed quiet, making no effort to communicate what he was thinking before Derek sighed, taking a step closer, "Derek?" Stiles called, "The opposite of humor isn't seriousness... it's macabre," he replied quietly, Stiles' stomach sank and he drained pale, "Derek-!?" he shouted, reaching out for him only for Danny to step in and put a hand on his shoulder, keeping him back as Derek rolled up his sleeve and held his arm out, inhaling sharply in through his nose and flicking his claw out on his other hand as he jammed them into his arm and dragged them down, leaving gushing, bleeding, angry red marks in their wake, blood dripped from the wounds and he took several deep breaths as he looked up and glared at the frog, the frog stared at him, at the blood pouring out of the scratches, and his eyes began to crinkle as he let out a massive, boisterous laugh, full of glee as his laughter shook the land they were standing on, Kali- who had been watching discreetly by the gate- rolled her eyes and opened the gate, gesturing for them to go inside, "It thinks blood is funny?" Stiles asked in confusion, "Not blood exactly, just the macabre, the... fact that I hurt myself, it's irony or something, he thinks it's HILARIOUS," Derek huffed back, "That's... terrible," Lydia muttered, crossing her arms over her chest in discomfort, "I told you, Wonderland has a sick sense of humor,"

~+~

"I really have to get going now," Allison sighed as she swung her quiver and bow over her shoulder, "Are you sure?" Scott pouted, "Yeah... if I don't leave now my family will start really getting suspicious," she explained, "Ah... I understand, be safe ok?" he said worriedly, "Ofcourse," Allison smiled, waving to him and heading towards the exit, "So now that the hunter is gone, are we going to start training too?" Erica asked boredly from the corner, "What? Why wouldn't you train in front of Allison? It isn't because she's human right? I mean I'm human after all," Scott rambled innocently, "Yes but she's also a hunter, just in case she ever goes against someone in our species... we don't need the word spreading in the hunter's circles of what our powers consist of, we've managed to keep atleast SOME of it a secret all this time," Issac pointed out, Scott nodded slowly, still feeling a little bad about not being upfront with Allison but not wanting to upset anyone here either, "Alright, any questions before we start?" Kira asked, grabbing a baton from a small rack of simalar weapons and twirling it with ease between her fingers, "No? Then let's get down to business,"

~+~

"This is ridiculous," Lydia accused as she glared at the table in front of her, "I know, it's Wonderland," Derek supplemented blandly, "Why do I have to be the one to do this anyway?" "Because you have ballet-like precision and control over your body? If it isn't you your choices are a bulky werewolf, a dark sorcerer who can't go more than a few yards without me, or me- disaster of the year," Stiles added, "Ugh... I hate it because it's true," Lydia grumbled, standing up slowly and taking a deep breath, "Wonderland is all about riddles.... there has to be a riddle in here somewhere..." she muttered, glancing at the tea pot in her hands, the White Rabbit, Kali, had told her that to move on to the third challenge she would need to pour a perfect cup of tea without spilling a single drop, in every tea cup on the table, Lydia was no stranger to pouring tea like this, she thought it'd be easy... until she saw the teapot with three spouts and realized she would have to be walking on the table too... "She said 'make a perfect cup of tea'.... this is Wonderland, 'perfect' probbably means 'imperfect'," Stiles reasoned, "But how do you make an 'imperfect' cup of tea?" Derek frowned, "Too much sugar," Danny offered with a small grin, Lydia rolled her eyes, she had nothing but tea to work with here, and she had to figure something out fast, if she waited too long they'd have a hard time moving on to the other three challenges that awaited them... "Maybe... the emphasis isn't on the tea.. but on 'not spilling a drop'," she noted, "How do you mean?" Stiles frowned, "I mean... what if it isn't about spilling LESS than a drop... what if I need to spill MORE than a drop?" she considered, "That's a pretty risky move... what do you think Derek? You're our resident Wonderland expert, could that be it?" Stiles asked, the werewolf wrung his hands nervously, glancing around and nodding slowly, "It could be... it could be but I'm not 100% sure..." he said with a frustrated glare at the ground, "Well then, I say we try it, no one has a better idea after all, we can't stand here all day waiting and speculating," Danny added, Lydia glared at the teapot and hoped that she was making the right decision before taking a breath and turning it up, purposely missing the cups around her and only splattering a bit in each cup as she focused most of the tea onto the table, if this was wrong.... she had a feeling it'd be off with their heads....

~+~

"Agh! How do you keep doing that!?" Erica hissed in anguish as she fell to the ground once more, Kira had been blocking her attacks since she started, at first it was a little amusing but now it just sucked, "Years and years of practice, kitsune in my skulk are combat-trained for cases of emergency," she explained, "Well they sure do one hell of a job," Erica muttered back, "They'll be glad to hear that," Erica smiled happily, although she could tell Erica hadn't quite meant it as a compliment, "I'm taking a break, too much more of this and I'll break a nail," she huffed, going to lay out in the corner with nearly everyone else who had even attempted to come at Kira, "Oh come on guys! Isn't anyone interested in atleast trying to disarm me?" she asked with a pout, really, it was kind of sinfull the way she was teasing, but she never got to show off her skills and she may have been a little more excited than was reasonable, "I'll give it a go again," Boyd muttered as he stood up, making his way over to her and letting out a roar as he started to half-shift, "I've never heard of a were-bear before... is that what you call it?" Scott asked innocently, Erica smiled slightly over her shoulder and gave a nod, "Yeah, basically, I'm not sure if there's really a defined term for it yet, Boyd is the only one we know of," "Really? Then... how?" Scott asked in confusion, "Same way Issac and I got our powers- we were cursed, Jackson won't talk about his but... for Boyd, Issac, and I it was all by the same person," she mused, "Same person? Who?" there was a pause as Erica fidgeted with her nails, looking away when she said it, "A dark sorcerer named Danny,"


	11. Rumplestiltskin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, a dark witch was known for making deals with people, promising their true heart's desire...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what I would like to call "Backstory Galore", as around half of it- if not more- is just backstory for some of our new additions

"'A key that is not a key', what the hell does that mean?" Stiles groaned as the group walked down the path designated to them, "Maybe it refers to a type of word key? The key to solving a puzzle or a riddle, Wonderland is full of riddles, maybe that's it," Danny offered, "Maybe but it seems awfully tame for Wonderland," Derek sighed, "It sounds like one of those extremely terrible joke riddles, like 'when is a door not a door? When it's ajar' that sort of thing," Stiles added, "Wonderland is like that though, always a twist between extremely clever and extremely stupid, with bags full of utter nonsense tossed in," Derek confirmed, "It doesn't matter right now, we'll get to figuring that out when we get to tree, right now I think we should be far more concerned about getting to the other side," Lydia breathed, pointing towards the massive chasm in front of them, the gaping hole lead down into nothing but darkness and stretched from the edge of the land to a small type of island in the distance, the only thing connecting the two slabs of land being two thin peices of wire a few feet apart, "Please... please tell me we aren't supposed to climb over that..." Stiles said through gritted teeth, trying to summon boards to place over the wires but to no avail, he glanced at Lydia, who tried as well, and shook her head, "Sorry to not tell you then," Lydia muttered, "Great, this is great, does anyone have ANY idea how we're supposed to accomplish this?" "You just have to go across, you won't figure out how to do it until you start across the wires, that's just how Wonderland is," Derek sighed, "Ok... then I guess me and Lyds huh?" "What? Why are you volunteering me?" she hissed, "Because you're the most lightweight here, not to mention gracefull," he reasoned, "What about Danny? He's tied to you, won't he have to go across by default?" "God I hate it when you're right," Stiles grumbled, stepping closer to Danny and taking a deep breath, closing his eyes and muttering something under his breath, "What is he doing?" Derek wispered to Lydia, "Lengthening Danny's leash," Lydia hissed back with a frown as Stiles pulled away, "Stiles, did you really have to do that?" "Yeah, going across with someone attached to me? Dangerous, like I'd be weighed down with an anvil, this'll give Danny a few more yards, enough to stay here but not enough to go wandering off creating mayhem in random villages," he huffed, heading towards the wires and holding his hand out for Lydia, the mermaid stared at it anxiously before placing her hand in his, squeezing slightly and stepping onto the wire in front of her, it trembled, wiggling unstabley, and Stiles stepped onto his, wich was oddly firm and in place, Lydia frowned, lifting her toes and placing them back only to find the same result, the two glanced at eachother, lifting the other foot and placing it in front of the first- the wires were still firm, they took a third step together, then a fourth, then a fifth, and when they looked back, they saw wooden boards connecting the wires in their places, the two smiled at eachother, starting to gain confidence as Lydia took a few steps forward, screaming as the wire in front of her suddenly went unsteady, Stiles paled and chased after, facing the same problem until he took her hand again, and to their surprise, a few moments later, the wires were firm again, "What.... what the hell?" Stiles breathed, Lydia swallowed, stepping forward and finding the wire unstable, she glanced at Stiles, nodding for him to copy her, and once he did the wire firmed up again, "We have to walk in step.." she breathed, "Yeah ok .. um... can't be too hard," he muttered, swallowing and making eye contact with her as they each took the next step, it was going to be a long way across....

~+~

"Why would Danny curse you guys? I get that he's a dark wizard or whatever but he doesn't seem cruel without reason," Admittedly, Scott was used to seeing the good in people, so there was a strong chance that he was just trying to see the good in Danny, but he didn't think that was the case, the guy seemed too smart to be uselessly cruel in his opinion, "We have no idea, all we know is that we all asked for something and in a way... we got what we asked for, just not what we wanted," Issac explained, "What do you mean? What did you ask for?" Issac looked down, shrugging again, "I asked for love, so I became a thing that could never truly have it," "You... you asked for love?" Scott asked in confusion, Issac nodded slowly, glancing up at him, "Let me tell you a story my freind, of how I let the darkness swallow me..."

_Once upon a time, many years ago, I was human, I was ... not really the best human, I was born to a small village, orphaned as a teenager, had to steal to eat, and I fell in love with a princess, sounds like a fairytale doesn't it? It didn't end like one.... the princess was everything I wanted to find in a partner, beauty, strength, loyalty, and more, she was kind and gracefull when she saw fit and harsh and brutal when she didn't, it was really something else, I fell for her so hard and fast that I don't even remember doing it, and it all started with bread... it was just a normal afternoon, I stole some bread, the merchant chased me, but instead of fighting him off or outrunning him like I usually did, I found a litter sitting on the ground and dove into it, not realizing at the time it was already occupied, when I saw the princess I expected her to kick me out, I expected her to call for her guards, to do anything except what she actually DID.... the merchant nocked on the door and she pulled the curtains away from the window, he asked if she'd seen me and she .... she said no, she lied and he left and that was all there was to it, I asked her how I could repay her and she just said... to trade cloaks with her, she had sent the guards to fetch something for her and just wanted to get out of the royal life for a little wile, wander the streets for a little wile and be free from all the pampering, the eyes on her, the ... the treatment more like she was an object than a human, so I traded with her and we both left, she went to explore and I ran away from the market, that night I went to the hill that I always went to to eat and looked up at the stars, I didn't know much about wishing on stars back then, and I made a bit of a stupid mistake, instead of wishing on a shooting star, I wished on the second star to the right of the North Star, before I knew it there was a cloud of black smoke in front of me and .... when he appeared, he said he was a genie, here to grant a wish of mine out of the goodness of his heart, I trusted him, I believed him, I thought to myself 'Yes, this is the next part of the story, this is how it goes, this is how I get my happy ending', and I said that I ..... I wished that she would fall in love with me, he asked if I was sure, said that he could do better, that he could make me a prince, rich, a suitor in line to marry her if she decided to, but I foolishly refused it and said I didn't care about status or money and that I just wanted her to love me, that we would find a way around it all, that we would survive it... I was stupid and young, I didn't think about how horrible it was to ask for, and my naievity bit me in the end, when he granted my wish I felt a horrible pain spread throughout my body and felt myself starting to black out, he assured me, said that the next night I should go to the palace and tap on her window, when I woke the next morning I felt different but couldn't describe how and I spent the day journeying into the city and towards the palace, and when I got there... I wished I could get to her window, I wasn't sure how I could do it from such a height, but when I made that wish, the old carpet I was standing on began to rise up and up until I got to her window, I tapped on it, and the princess came to greet me, she smiled at me as if I had hung the moon and we talked for hours, we were happy... for those hours on the carpet in the sky... we were so blissfully, ignorantly happy... and then it all fell apart, we fell into our attraction to eachother and we kissed for what felt like an eternity when I suddenly noticed a strange energy around her, as if I could feel the attraction pulsing off of her in waves, it was bizarre but I tried to ignore it, I tried... but after another moment, when I pulled away from her lips and inhaled, I breathed a strange blue energy in with me and suddenly it all started making sense, I was breathing in her sexual energy- her chi- and it scared the life out of me, I stopped as soon as I could, I ran for the window, jumped on the carpet, and never looked back, I was afraid to hurt her so for years I traveled, surviving how I could and knowing that I could never fall in love again, if I did... if I fell for someone and then tried to be with them it would only end in disaster, I could hurt them, I could KILL them, so I decided I could never fall in love again_

"One good thing I have going with that ridiculous witch, we could never love eachother, he doesn't allow me to get close enough to hurt him and I have no desire to have anything to do with him... we both need eachother, in a way, but we don't want eachother, a perfect arrangement for someone like me," Issac explained, "So your princess... you never saw her again?" Scott asked sadly, Issac looked down and shook his head, "No.... no I didn't...."

~+~

"It would help if we had an idea of what we're looking for," Lydia sighed, "It's a small tree Lyds, how hard can it be to find?" Stiles shrugged, bracing himself against the tree and gesturing her closer, "C'mon, I'll help you up and then you can pull me up," he offered, Lydia nodded, watching as Stiles placed his hands out and cupped them as a foothold, Lydia stared at him a bit cautiously for a moment before stepping into his hands, clutching the branch above her and pressing down, hearing Stiles squeak as he stumbled to up-right and let her step her other foot onto his shoulders, reaching up and pulling herself into the tree, "Oww, ok, new plan, next time YOU push me into the tree and I'll pull YOU up," he groaned, shaking his hands, "Oh stop exaggerating," she huffed, reaching down and helping pull him into the tree, "Oh my God Stiles a little HELP with not acting like dead weight!?" she groaned, "Sorry, sorry! I'm not used to being yanked into a tree!" he huffed, panting as he finally managed to get onto the branch, "Right... now how do we search out this thing?" she muttered, "I don't know, I guess we could start with the branches nearest and then ju-" he paused, hearing something rustle in the leaves and looking up, he put his finger to his lips in a shushing motion and Lydia nodded her understanding, watching as Stiles rose slowly to his feet and started to step towards the trunk of the tree, he did so as quietly as he could, peering up and gasping as a flutter of wings brushed past him, "Oh for crying out loud..." he grumbled, "What? What is it?" Lydia asked quietly, "A flying monkey, real FREAKING clever Wonderland! A flying mon-KEY.... oh my GOD..." he groaned, Lydia sighed loudly, she wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that flying monkeys were only supposed to live in Oz (And therefore shouldn't even BE here) or that terrible pun...

~+~

"What about you Erica? What are you exactly anyway?" Scott asked as he glanced over at the blonde, watching Issac out of his peripheral vision as the Incubus went to spar with Kira, "I'm an Ice Nymph," she said with a small smirk, "An Ice Nymph?" he echoed, she smirked and nodded, glancing around the cave and shooting a blast of ice at the corner of the ground, "That's so cool! Why weren't you sparring with Kira that way?" he asked with a hint of dissappointment in his voice, "Ah well... I really can't control it very well yet, I could misfire way too easily..." she explained, "What happened? If you don't mind me asking.... what did you wish for that turned you into this?" she sighed, smirking painfully at him, "You really like the hard questions huh? Alright, I'll tell you the story then..."

_Once upon a time, I was in love, she was a beautifull girl, full of wit and grace and smiles, she was also my best freind, for years that's how we were, best freinds, like sisters, inseparable, but things changed... things always change, and my feelings for her were certainly one of those things to change, I started to feel less and less like I wanted her as a freind, and more and more like I wanted her as a wife, and for a long time- several months I think- I thought she felt the same way, but that too changed, one day she came to me smiling and held her hand out and there was a ring on it, the suitor her father had set her up with had asked for her hand in marriage and she couldn't be happier, I, on the other hand, couldn't be more crushed, I tried to be happy that she was happy, I know that's what love truly is... but I was in so much pain... I had heard of a witch who could grant any wish, so I went to the mountains and visited him, I asked for the pain to stop, for him to numb my pain... it was a stupid choice and even more stupidly was the way I said it, 'make me feel numb, as cold as ice', you can see the irony... he taught me how to control it enough to numb myself but that was it, you see Nymphs are like Incubi and Succubi, we have to have physical touches to stay strong, it's just part of us, we can force someone to be attracted to us too but I didn't want to go down that road... I tried so hard to keep my heart in ice, and to keep my powers under control, but the more people I attracted, the harder it was, a Nymph's powers are tied to their emotions, whenever I felt anything strongly- happiness, anger, fear, it didn't matter- my powers would run off on their own and I'd freeze everything- sometimes everyone- around me, I fled to the mountains, knowing that it wouldn't be long before I was hunted down as well, but the witch wasn't there anymore, so I did the only thing I could do, I used my ice powers to create a castle for myself- because I always WAS fond of the bigger prettier things in life- and I stayed alone, warding off anyone who came near with my magic, Nymphs don't need sexual chi to survive like Incubi and Succubi do, we don't even need physical contact to live, but it keeps us strong, without it I fell weaker and weaker, I knew that if the hunters ever did find me- WHEN they would find me- there'd be almost nothing left of my strength to fight them with, then Boyd came along and... well that's another story for another time..._

"I still have trouble controlling my ice powers, but it's getting better slowly, enough that I can use them in serious combat, not quite enough to trust myself with just sparring," she explained, Scott nodded slowly, looking up and watching as Boyd was slung to a corner by Kira's hands alone, "I guess it's my turn again," he sighed, standing up and smiling sheepishly at her, "Thanks for telling me though, I know it must hurt..." she shrugged, "It's been a wile, after this long you start getting used to it, the sharp, searing agony is just a dull ache now," "Yeah but... everyone has the right to live without any pain at all," he insisted, she smiled more shaking her head, "You optimists are adorable, you know that?"

~+~

"Do you think she'll ever tell us how a flying monkey got into Wonderland to begin with?" Stiles asked suddenly, "Probbably not, Kali is generally pretty terrible but by far her worst trait is being uninformative, if I had to guess though she flew over with Lady Elphaba from Oz a few decades ago," he shrugged, "You mean the Wicked Witch was here?" Stiles perked, "What? You didn't know that? Ofcourse she was! See, Dorothy never actually killed her, she fell through a trap door she had crafted and escaped and came to Wonderland, it's really no question how she found the door to get here- she WAS more or less a genius- anyway she stayed here in Wonderland for about twenty years or so before leaving abruptly after Lady Galinda finished out her term ruling Oz, I think they ran away together, I didn't know her personally but my mom said she had met her once when she was Alice-ing, she said she was really nice, I alwa-" "How... are you able to talk this much when on any other circumstance you can barely get past monosyllabic sentences?" Danny finally groaned, Derek swallowed, curling into himself slightly and tensing his muscles, "Sorry," he muttered back, Stiles narrowed his eyes, pausing suddenly and nearly causing Derek to trip over him, "Would you cut the crap Danny? You had some magical melt down long, long ago and now you're making everyone else in the universe miserable, we GET it, and if you want to go around screwing with people's heads and making mischeif and mayhem then do it on your own time, but right now you're bound to ME- and for a very good reason might I add- I started this entire mission of insanity and I'm going to be the one to finish it, so leave MY people alone or I swear I will find a way to snap your pretty neck, clear?" he shouted in anger, turning on his heel and grabbing Derek's arm, "I happen to LIKE hearing about the history of God's weirdest creation ever, keep talking Derek, I want to know ALL the stories," he encouraged quickly, pulling the werewolf a little closer, Derek seemed hesitant, not speaking at first but finally starting up again after Stiles asked him to tell him more about the witches of Oz, Lydia tsked and shook her head, "I TRIED to warn you," she hummed smugly, turning to glance at Danny and freezing suddenly, she had expected to see him looking irritated at being scolded, or at the very least neutral, but he looked positively delighted, a poorly concealed grin on his face and a confident pace in his step, it looked like he had gotten exactly what he wanted, like he had INTENDED to provoke Stiles by shutting Derek down, it made Lydia tense, it made her feel a burst of goosebumps spread over her flesh, and Danny- if he noticed at all- didn't seem to care about her sudden reaction, he was happy about this, and Lydia didn't have the foggiest clue why, but she knew one thing was absolutely certain, if it had made Danny happy, it couldn't be good...

~+~

"Hey Boyd," Scott greeted casually as he wiped some sweat from his brow, Kira was still going strong at them- having taken on Erica a second time now- but she had said she was calling it quits for the day after she was done with Erica, Scott could tell she was starting to get tired and frankly, everyone needed a bit of a break, or alot of a break... "Don't even bother asking," Boyd said slowly, "What?" Scott pouted, "I know you're just going to ask about my history with Danny, I'll tell you, but first you have to tell me something," he bargained, "I can do that," Scott agreed, "Why are you so interested?" the question took the human back a bit, thoroughly surprised by that, "Well.. I just am, I just want to know," "You know you can't change it though ... right? There's nothing you can do that will suddenly make it all better," "I know, I just .. like knowing I guess," Boyd stared at him for a long moment, he didn't seem to be lieing... but he had a feeling the reason why the prince was so interested in their stories was because he had it in his head somewhere that he could actually help, but that really wasn't for him to decide one way or another, so he took a deep breath and began to tell the tale

_Once upon a time, I had a family, it wasn't a very big family, just myself, my sisters, and my parents, we were nobles, not royalty- not like you, but we were pretty highborn still, enough that if my sister married the right person she might just become a Duchess, growing up I never thought much about any of that, but after my dad died I started to, I was forced to, my mom started looking for potential marriages for my sister and I, mostly my sister, even if I married the most we would get out of it would be a dowry, for my sister though... well as I said, if she married the right person we could find ourselves no longer just nobility- and fleeting at that- but real royalty, my mom started to set up proposals for suitors all over the land and my sister was supposed to meet with them all at a special tournament my family held every year, she dreaded meeting each and every one of them and Mother couldn't stand the idea of her possibly marrying someone lower than herself out of sheer fondness when people as highborn as relatives to the king were there, so she devised a plan, a game, she assumed that obviously the better the sportsman, the better the blood, and decided that a game would decide who would marry Alicia- my sister-, Alicia was furious, as I'm sure you can imagine, and when the next afternoon came along she did something unthinkable, she walked onto the feild and prepared to fight for her freedom, Alicia was a brilliant archer, even more brilliant than our hunters, and so Mom picked archery to be the sport deciding Alicia's fate, Alicia beat all of her suitors with ease and humiliated them, she and Mother argued alot after that, Mother trying to repair their status with the kingdom, and Alicia, having been a hot-head from the time of birth more or less, decided the only way to get her freedom was to force Mother to listen to her, she's the one who went to Danny, who asked that she have a spell that would make Mother see her point of veiw, he gave her a cupcake in return, said it was infused with the magic she needed, the next morning I woke up and my mother had turned into a bear, nothing we did could seem to bring her back to her human state and the longer she stayed that way the less human she was, so I went back to the witch and offered myself in her place, he gave me a potion and when I woke up after drinking it I found my mother human again, and myself baring claws and fangs, he never explained why I had the option to shapeshift and my mother didn't, he just said the spell would be 'watered down' after transferal, I assume that was what he meant_

"So how does this relate to Erica? She said things changed for her after you came along, things changed for you too right?" Scott asked curiously, "That's right, I left my village much like Issac and Erica did out of fear of hurting anyone else, I went to live in the mountains and was soon captured by a woman known as The Troll Queen, she used her magic to change my curse, so that I would be a bear by day and a human by night, she said the curse would break if I found a woman who didn't know I was anything but a bear and made her love me within one year, if I couldn't do that, I would be forced to marry the Troll Queen, I never did try to force anyone to love me, I just resigned myself to my fate, but Erica... she found me in the snow, offered me a place in her castle, we became inseparable, having no one but eachother around, and one day she must have truly started to love me as the curse broke out of no where," he said with a fond smile, "So now you two live in the mountains together?" Scott asked with an excited grin, "Very perceptive," Erica panted, dragging her feet towards them as she moved, "Well atleast you sort of got your happy endings, what happened to your family Boyd?" "I don't know, it's been years since I've seen them, too afraid of losing control of my shift, but when this war is over... if we win, I plan to go back to my village and see if they're still there,"

~+~

If there was any instance of there being a true look of horror on Derek Hale's face, now would be that instance, "Ohhh come on Derek, we all must pay our dues to keep the flowers in bloom, young Alices shouldn't protest to the natural cycle of the garden, you know all too well that red roses sin here, now don't you wish to keep them white?" Kali cackled as she stood in front of the fourth door, "There has to be some other way," he strained, "Find me an apple to turn into a pear then, but unless you change our stripes we're stuck with lines and can't accept polka-dots," she hummed, swaying teasingly in front of him, "We have other magic, why not fill the pitcher with more lemonade instead of squeezing the lemons fresh?" he sighed, she snickered again, her fangs clear as day as she grinned, "Your Riddlish is full of mud my dear, spending too much time bottom-side up so all your blood has left your head, your linguistics are suffering," "Then let's battle like poets and the looser tounge will claim victory, leave the lemonade alone," "Ha! Oh if ease were a bird there'd be no more morning songs, foolish flower-wolf, the thorns have dug too deep into your skin, have they poisened you bitter yet or is that just your natural flavor?" "My flowers have been in too much sun," he said quietly, "And so the petals are wilting? As good a time as any to bow your loyalties to the garden by gracing us with the Futterwacken and Hattastica! Your flowers should bloom, darling child of Alice, why don't you ever water them?" "I live in a drought," he huffed back, "I'm trying to restore our rain and rivers but the sun keeps drying it up, I've little to go on but the thorns," "If you're in need of rain then a rain dance is best wouldn't you say?" she grinned, "Derek... what is she SAYING?" Stiles sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly, he was getting such a headache trying to keep up with this conversation, he finally gave up and let it loose around "flower wolf" because good freaking LUCK figuring out what that one meant, "Derek, Derek, Derek~ If you don't brush your hair at night won't the Tangle Fairies descend upon you? You don't want to wake up with a nest of rats," she teased, he closed his eyes, turning back to Stiles tiredly, "It's.... a long story, ok? One I'd rather not repeat," "Well what is it she wants us to do?" Lydia asked, he bit his cheek, closing his eyes tiredly, "Tick tock~ Tick tock~ If you want your heads on plates you're better off being late~" Kali hummed as she held out her pocket watch, "We have to dance," he finally groaned, ".... Excuse me?" Lydia frowned, "I said-" "We heard you man, just... what does that mean?" Stiles asked cautiously, "It means exactly what I said, she wants us to dance- and not just any dance... a Wonderland dance," "Is there a reason for this besides humiliation?" Danny asked with an air of seriousness, "Wonderland is made up of pure magic, magic thrives with things like love, laughter, happiness... dancing is one method of acheiving those results, and I'm sure the humiliation plays a part in it too," he explained, Stiles rubbed his eyes and dragged his hands down his face, "My life is struggle..."

~+~

"Don't even think about it McCall," Jackson huffed, "Think about what?" Scott asked innocently, "I don't know why you have this obsessive need to know about everyone around you, but I'm telling you how I ended up like this," he snapped, "I wasn't going to ask," Scott huffed back, glancing up at the ceiling for a moment before speaking again, "I mean out of pure curiosity though what ARE you?" Jackson just groaned, tail swishing as he stood up and went to guard the entrance to the foxhole where Boyd currently was, "He's a Kanima," he heard, turning and smiling at Kira as she offered him an apple, sitting down next to him and fidgeting slightly, "A Kanima? Is that something bad?" "Kind of, like .... the rejects of the shapeshifting world, I guess you could say, Kanima can only be cursed, not born, not even bitten, being a Kanima means that you've been cursed for something terrible, and although I don't know Jackson or Danny very well at all, I'm pretty sure Danny isn't the one who did that to him," "What makes you say that?" "Because the spell went wrong," she said under her breath, scooting closer as if that would prevent anyone else from hearing her already low voice, "Kanima should be shapeshifters right? Being able to turn from one form into another, whoever cursed Jackson and for whatever reason... the spell went wrong, now he's stuck in this... this perpetual state of in-between, not all Kanimas have this terrible disposition, Jackson is forced not just to wear this curse, but to have it tattooed on him all day and night, to be ... a monster, even by Kanima standards, it truly is the worst curse you could have put on someone, if you were looking to change what they were that is, Danny seems like a perfectionist, he wouldn't botch his own work, even if it was just to spite someone, and he seems close to Jackson anyway, like they're freinds, it wasn't Danny this time... I'm sure of it," Scott nodded thoughtfully, taking it all in and wondering who could have cursed Jackson and why, "Kira? Why is being a Kanima a bad thing? I mean... what do they do?" Kira looked down, fidgeting with her dress again, "Kanima are murderers, or rather, they're used as weapons for murder, it's a long story and I promise to tell you later but evil people use Kanimas to kill against their will, once a Kanima has a master they can't disobey them, Kanimas all started a long time ago when the very first man was cursed to be one, his existence then was much like Jackson's is now, horrified of people, living isolated in a cave, unable to control his shift... and the fact that they're killing machines, that that's what they're MADE to do.... our people call them Beasts," she confessed, Scott looked down, hanging his head as he tried to peice things together, "I see your head spinning .... what is it?" Kira asked worriedly, "I was just thinking.... Kanimas are created to be murder weapons right? So... what if the person who created him wasn't really a witch, and that's why the spell went wrong?" "How else would you cast a spell?" Kira asked in confusion, "Through something man-made, something scientific... something like..... alchemy,"

~+~

"What happens in Wonderland, STAYS in Wonderland," Derek hissed as he walked towards the last door, "You don't have to tell me twice," Danny grumbled back, "Atleast we get to keep the cool hats," Stiles grinned as he grabbed his top hat and spun it on his fingers, Danny proceeded to zap all of the hats away into some sort of alternate dimension (if his disgruntled expression was anything to go by) and Stiles pouted, "Ok first of all- rude," he huffed, "Could you just keep your mouth shut for FIVE minutes?" Danny sighed, "Nope, and now because of that I'm just going to talk more, maybe endlessly, maybe POINTLESSLY, just to enrage you," he shrugged, "Everyone be quiet... we're at the last door," Derek sighed, when Stiles looked up he was a bit taken aback to see a man wearing an extravagant top hat and strange, multi-colored patchwork clothes in front of them, and he wondered if the dark sunglasses he was wearing meant that he was blind, they were a bit oddly shaped... "Hello Starshine," the man said with a grin, leaning on his cane and tipping his hat, "Deucalion," Derek sighed back, "I think it's safe to say you can tell us whatever the challenge is now," "No challenge really, just a riddle," he chuckled, "Then what's the riddle?" "How is a raven like a writing desk?" Stiles, Danny, and Lydia groaned loudly, even THEY had heard of that riddle, and even THEY knew it was impossible to solve, Derek, however, chuckled quite confidently and stepped forward, "Why is death like a new quill?" he replied, the man- Deucalion- smiled widely and snapped his fingers as the door opened, "Good morrow Starshine," he grinned, laughing the entire time as Derek and company entered the doors of the castle, "I don't get it, what's the answer?" Lydia asked in confusion, "There isn't a set answer, I could have said a number of things 'why is a flower like a rib?' or 'why is a lion like a telephone?' or any of those, the riddle it's self has many answers and none is more or less correct than another," "Well what did YOUR'S mean?" Lydia compromised, "Ravens and writing desks both speak back to you when you speak to them, death and a new quill are both incapable of speech- but capable of starting over into something new," he shrugged, Stiles grinned suddenly, snapping his fingers, "That makes so much sense!" "Thanks," Derek grinned, pausing and bowing suddenly, the others stared at eachother for a moment before looking up and realizing that they had finally made it to face the queen, "Rise, please, there is no reason freinds of an Alice should bow to me," she smiled, Derek climbed to his feet, smiling fondly at her, "Queen Satomi... it's been a long time," "It has indeed Derek, tell me, why have you come such a long way? I doubt it was just to see the flowers," he nodded slowly, taking a breath, "My sister Laura.... is she here?" Satomi's smile faltered and she shook her head, "No, I'm afraid not," Derek's heart immediately sank and he stared at the floor in defeat, "What the hell? You said Laura was here, you said you tracked her!" Stiles growled, "She WAS here when I tracked her," Danny protested, "You sho-" "She WAS here," Satomi added, causing the three to turn back to her, "I'm afraid she left just this morning, but she was here for some time before that," "Do you know where she went?" Derek asked hopefully, "I do indeed," she smiled, watching Derek's face light up at the news, "Neverland,"


	12. Faith, Trust, And Pixie Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, Neverland was home to dark secrets, and an even darker shadow...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I admittedly wanted things to play out alot differently in Neverland than they ultimately ended up but that's fine because for the most part it ended up BETTER than my original idea, I hope it translates as well on page as it does in my head

"I don't understand why we didn't just open up on the island," Stiles sighed as he leaned against the side of the ship, he may have disagreed with Danny's methods but in all honesty it was a releif to have a morally careless witch on his team to summon things when needed- like now, for instance, when he summoned a gigantic ship to take them to Neverland just by snapping his fingers, it was USEFULL, "Every magic land has their own security system, in a way, Wonderland tested us with the tiny door, Neverland is testing us with this sea, people come here for immortality, for pure magic, the sea is our test to make sure we wouldn't abuse that power selfishly," Lydia shrugged, "Why a sea?" Derek asked curiously, "Many places see water as either purifying and a symbol of rebirth, or condemnation and a symbol of death, immortality is seen much the same way, either as a blessing or a curse," she explained, "Huh... interesting," Stiles muttered back, "I suppose it is," she shrugged back, stretching her arms and heading to the edge of the ship, "I'm going to swim the rest of the way, it's been FAR too long since I've stretched my tail," she said, climbing up onto the edge of the ship and jumping into the water, "Thanks for your stay," Stiles sighed sarcastically, glancing up at the night sky and shaking his head, why did things always have to be so much more complicated than they sounded?

~+~

"Allison!" Allison jumped slightly and turned on her heel, smiling nervously at Kate as the blonde rushed towards her, "You're back, finally, your parents were starting to get suspicious... but don't worry, I told them you were at the blacksmith's requesting more silver bullets," she said quickly, "Thanks... I... thank you Aunt Kate, I really appreciate that," Allison breathed with releif, "Ofcourse, but in return you have to give me ALL the details about your new ... ~freind~," she grinned excitedly, "I know, and I promise, I just.. I've had a long day, can we talk about it in the morning?" she asked with a small smile, "Ofcourse, I can wait until then, no rush," Kate promised, giving Allison a thumb's up as the younger hunter waved greatfully and headed for the stairs, rubbing her head as she walked and taking a breath, she needed to come up with a plan, a lie to tell to Kate about what she was doing and who she was seeing, and knowing her aunt, it better be a good one....

~+~

"You really should sleep Derek, there's no telling how long we'll be on this boat, and you need your energy," Stiles noted as he glanced over at the werewolf, "I'm fine Stiles, I really don't need to sleep," he insisted calmly, "Yeah but it's always better if you do, just ... get as much rest as you can get you know? You have no idea when we might have to start fighting for our lives again," "Exactly, you have no idea when we might have to start fighting for our lives again, wich is exactly why I need to stay awake- in case something comes along that threatens us," he reasoned, staring over the edge of the ship at the water, "Then I guess we have two different opinions on the matter," Stiles muttered back, glancing at Derek and starting to make a swaying motion with his hand, Derek squinted, looking around and cringing slightly, "Do you... do you hear music?" he muttered, "It's probbably just the sea playing tricks on you, you're tired, you should sleep," Stiles insisted, Derek pinched his eyes, shaking his head slowly, but the music persisted, it was a soft tune, melodic almost like a lullaby, it was getting in his head and making him struggle more and more to keep his eyes open, "Just sleep," Stiles encouraged again, Derek sighed shakily, leaning against him and finally giving in, allowing Stiles to pull him down and lay his head down in his lap, his eyes fluttering closed as he fell into a light slumber, "A lullaby spell huh? Very nice," Danny chuckled as he came to sit down next to Stiles, the other witch just snorted, looking away, it was fairly easy for even the simplest witch to make people hear music, music after all was just a soundwave like anything else, and soundwaves were already sitting there, waiting in the air to be manipulated, once you learned the right trick to it it was easy, "I just needed him to sleep," he muttered back, "Oh I'm not judging, if it were Jackson I'd have done the same, funny thing about shapeshifters, they act so mighty but they all need someone like us- a magical folk, a witch- to take care of them, they burn out their energy so quickly... you'd think they'd learn to be more conservative with their power supply, ofcourse this doesn't mean witches can't get tired too... you should think about taking a quick nap yourself Stiles," he smirked, Stiles snorted, leaning back and raking his fingers through Derek's hair unconsciously, "And you should think about tieing a cement block to your ankle and going for a swim, I'm not stupid you know," "No... no I agree, you're actually very smart, in fact, I think we have alot in common," Danny replied sincerely, "You and I? Alot in common? Sure, probbably about as much in common as an electric eel has with an elephant," "Wich one are you?" Stiles glanced at him, rolling his eyes but not answering, "I'm very serious Stiles, you and I aren't as different as you seem to think," "Really? How do you come to that conclusion? Is it the completely different take on magical ethics? The fact that wile you've been in a CAVE for the last few decades I've been making relationships and have a home, or maybe it's just that I've been risking my skin to help people the last few days and you've been spending your life making people miserable?" "Come on Stiles do I really need to spell this out for you? We're smart you and I, and talented, haven't you ever heard that light and dark are two sides of the same coin? Yin and yang... that one cannot exist without the other?" "So what are you saying then? Some kind of cracked up 'we're practically brothers so let's be besties' BS? Is that what you want?" he snipped, "No, I don't want anything at all from you Stiles, I just thought it was interesting, something for you to ponder," he hummed, standing up and starting to walk away, "I'm going to see if we're any closer to the island, enjoy your time with the wolf," he purred as he stalked off, Stiles sighed lowly, glancing down at Derek and tangling his fingers in his hair, "It isn't true.... I'm not like Danny.... I'm not...."

~+~

"I'm so glad you guys are finally home! Did you find the elf's parents?" Kira asked excitedly as she rushed to greet her parents and the rest of their skulk, "I'm afraid not, we're going to have to add this one to our nursery," her mother sighed as she handed off the child to another kitsune behind her, "What about you Kira? Is everything alright?" she asked cautiously, "Yeah, everything is great! In fact .. funny story... remember those freinds I said were going to be staying with us for a wile?" "Yes..." her mother replied slowly, "Well it turns out they um... sort of brought the prince with them... and also there are a few more people than I originally thought bu-" "The PRINCE? You don't mean the prince of Wolf Kingdom do you?" she asked with a frown, "I ah... I do," "Kira..." "Wait, just.. just hear me out, I promise it'll all make sense in a few minutes, just give me a chance to explain it," the older kitsune inhaled deeply, turning toward the rest of the skulk and nodding for them to retreat to the back of the cave as she sat down in front of Kira on the ground, "Alright, I'm listening,"

~+~

"Finally, land!" Stiles groaned as he eagerly bounded off of the ship, Derek was close behind, face pink as he tried to straighten out his hair, he was never sleeping on Stiles again... "Don't get too excited now," Lydia smirked as she wrung her hair out over her shoulder, "Lydia, I've been at sea for God only knows how long now, I will get excited if I want to," he huffed back, walking onto the shores of Neverland and groaning in releif at being on solid ground, "Now we just have to find Laura and your dad, then we can get out of here," Derek said quietly, "You say 'get out of here' as if you don't like this place, have you been here before?" Stiles asked curiously, Derek had lived in Wonderland for a few years after all, it wouldn't be a stretch since Neverland was Wonderland's closest neighbor- well, other than Oz, but new folk hadn't been permitted in Oz since before Derek was even born- "No, but this place gives me the creeps," he muttered back, "Really? I like it, it feels.... energetic, like I can feel the magic pulsing in me, it's really cool," he smiled back, "That's exactly WHY it gives me the creeps, witches may be able to handle pure magic, but shifters can't, it brings on the urge to shift too much," he explained, rubbing his arms anxiously as he walked towards the woods, "Seriously? Man, I'm sorry about that," "It's fine, I just want to hurry," "You know, if a shifter stays in a place full of pure magic for too long they start shaking, like those little tiny dogs that sound like squeaky toys when they bark," Danny grinned as he followed with ease, "If you say one more word, I'm going to make YOU start shaking," Stiles hissed, placing a hand on Derek's back and noticing with releif and slight surprise that he didn't tense or flinch away, he could faintly feel the jitters in his muscles though and he took a breath, channeling his magic to his fingertips and trying to soothe the shaking in his muscles, "I don't understand, Wonderland has even more pure magic than Neverland, why were you ok there and not here?" Lydia asked in confusion, "It's a different kind of magic, I'm not sure how to say it...." "Wonderland is like pure cocoa and Neverland is like pure sugar, with Wonderland the magic may be pure from the source but there's still a bitter flavor to it, something in the air that allows creatures like that blasted Cheshire Cat to roam around without batting an eye, it's accustomed for ... darker creatures like shifters, Neverland is full of Pixie Dust and Mermaid Pearls, the magic here has no bitterness- it's purely sweet, so it has little tolerance for magic that isn't Fae in origin, witches descended from Fae but shifters were always born how they are, no connection to Fae culture, or atleast no blood connection," Danny explained, "Thanks Danny, thanks for making my head hurt," Stiles snorted, "There's also the fact that I lived in Wonderland before my shapeshifting ability kicked in, I could have gotten desensitized to it in a way, my mom was an Alice, she lived there for several years before going back to Wolf Kingdom, maybe she brought some sort of natural immunity with her too," Derek nodded, "I'd be willing to say the answer is 'all of the above' dear Nephew," Derek paused, turning and staring into the trees as a figure moved towards them, "I mean, young Daniel's attempts at explaining the different kinds of magic were admirable but let's face it, there ARE no REAL laws of magic, that's what makes it.... magic," the voice chuckled, Derek inhaled, staring in disbeleif at the man approaching them, "Uncle Peter?" "The one and only,"

~+~

"Allison? Can I come in?" Allison glanced up, smiling slightly at the doorway and setting her hair brush down, "Yes Miss Morrell," she called back, the door creaked open and the familiar face of the palace's head chef peeked in, smiling softly, "Your aunt said you came up here in a hurry, I couldn't help but notice you didn't even stick around to eat," "I know, I'm sorry, I just... I'm really tired, I just want to be alone in my room for a wile," she explained, hoping that the other wouldn't press questions, "Trust me I understand, can I atleast bring you some soup?" she offered with a soft expression, "Actually... that'd be great, thanks Miss Morrell," "No problem dear," she replied, shutting the door and smirking as she walked back down the hallway, "No problem at all..."

~+~

"He's your uncle? I thought your entire family was dead? Except your sister I mean," Stiles said in confusion, "That's what I thought too.." Derek said quietly, "Yes well I'm a survivor, what can I say?" Peter smirked back, "How? And why are you here? HOW are you here?" "Well now that's a long story, I'll tell you later, scout's honor, but what about you dear Nephew? Why are YOU here in Neverland?" he grinned, "I'm looking for Laura... she's supposed to be here," Derek replied softly, "Oh yes.. Laura... she's here, nearer to Pixie Hollow, I just saw her today, how about I guide you to her?" Peter offered, flinching as a dagger breezed past his cheek and hit into the tree behind him, he turned and looked back at the group, watching Stiles recoil his arm, "Well that'd be swell, as soon as you tell me how you and Danny know eachother," Stiles replied quickly, Peter tilted his head, a pensive look crossing his face, "I don't know what you're talking about," "Don't lie, you've been making gestures to him all this time, your fingers have been weaving into symbols, Danny may be the only one watching but he's not the only one who can see it, now tell us the truth, how do you and Danny know eachother?" Peter was silent for a moment before chuckling and shrugging, "Why wouldn't I know him?" he replied vaguely, "The world is a vast place, what would keep me from knowing someone?" "Don't play games with us Peter," Derek growled, Stiles narrowed his eyes, pursing his lips, "How did Laura get here, Peter?" Stiles frowned, "Well... I'm sorry Daniel, it looks like the cat is out of the bag, yes I brought my darling neice to Neverland, not on my own ofcourse, but... I brought them ALL to Neverland," he chuckled, "All?" Stiles asked, only skipping a beat before clenching his fists, "All of the prisoners you mean? The ones who have been taken by the crown for execution... how many? For how long? How have you been doing this?" "Well I had help ofcourse, even I couldn't do it all on my own," Peter chuckled, "Help? I thought Danny had been locked up all of this time..." Derek frowned, "Not just from Danny, help from others," Lydia said quietly, "Right you are," came another voice, the group glanced up, watching pensively as a woman with wavey chesnut hair slowly walked around the corner, "Peter has had help from many people, myself included," she hummed, stepping closer and leaning her elbow against Peter's shoulder, "And who might you be?" Derek sneered, "I go by many names, Julia, Dorothy, Wendy... but you can just call me Jennifer, it's nice to finally meet you all," she smiled, "You're Wendy... then... oh no...." Lydia breathed, taking a step back, "Lydia?" Stiles frowned, turning to her, "I recognize him now.... he's so much older than he was but..... you were in Neverland before, weren't you? Younger, a teenager... Peter.... you're Peter Pan," she gasped, Peter clicked his tounge and tilted his head, "I'm only Peter today, but yes... once upon a time I went by that moniker.... I haven't let Pan in in a long time, I'm surprised you remember me from back then, but then again you lived in Neverland waters so time stayed still for you as much as it did for me, didn't it Little Mermaid?" Peter chuckled, "Wait a minute... I don't understand, I thought Peter Pan was a child," Derek frowned, "Well I WAS a teenager the last time I took on that title Nephew... but you're right, long, LONG ago, before I allowed Pan to take me, there was another Peter Pan, much younger than I had been, I'm not sure what happened to him, you see Pan doesn't exactly go into long conversations," "Pan... you keep talking as if 'Pan' is a separate person," Derek said quietly, Peter gave a slight click of his tounge, "You really are slow aren't you my boy?" "Pan isn't exactly another PERSON... but he IS right behind you," Jennifer smirked, Derek turned quickly on his heel, a gust of wind blowing past him as Stiles suddenly gasped, nees buckling as he struggled to grab onto Derek's shoulders, "Stiles!?" he shouted anxiously as Stiles gasped and choked, body writhing and shaking as Derek tried to keep him held up, his body finally collapsing against Derek's as a black mist rose away from him and swarmed towards Peter and Jennifer, hovering around them in a nearly humanoid silhouette, "Stiles?" Derek repeated, the witch shook his head, climbing back to his feet shakily and keeping one arm firmly around Derek's shoulders as he tried to regrasp his bearings, "The Shadow..." he spat out, tightening his jaw, "Ah yes... Shadow, Void, Pan... it doesn't matter what you call him," Peter shrugged, "I don't understand.. what's going on?" Derek asked quietly, he felt so out of the loop, like he was the only one who wasn't filled in on all of this, like he was the only one who couldn't keep up, and there wasn't exactly going to be a Q&A session... it was a terrible feeling to have, "I'll tell you later, I promise," Stiles muttered, "So you four have been working together all this time? For what reason? I highly doubt it was just to help people out of the goodness of your blackened hearts," Lydia hissed, "Ouch, that hurts," Danny tsked, "Wait... let me see if I can guess this," Stiles postured, "Danny .. would contact Peter when there was a new prisoner that needed to be brought to Neverland, Peter and Jennifer would go to the castle and bring them back- Peter would distract the guard and herd the prisoner out of their cell and Jennifer would stage a false execution, Pan just lends the occasional magic... but that leaves one part unplayed, who's at the castle? Who is the insider who contacts Danny about the new prisoners?"

~+~

"Do you have everything we need yet?" Morrell asked as she glanced over her shoulder, "Almost, I just need a few more things," the man behind her replied as he set a small box of herbs next to her on the counter, "Alan Deaton, you are SUCH a perfectionist," she said with a shake of her head, "I know, but that's just how I operate," he smirked back

~+~

"Come on, what is it? What are you all planning? You can't just be rescuing people just to rescue them...." Stiles hissed, he knew something else was going on here, he just didn't know what... "Well we might as well tell you, we need all the help we can get at this point," Danny commented, "Quite true Daniel," Peter agreed, taking a step forward, Stiles braced himself, waiting anxiously, "I wonder... did you know that the word 'tomato' is derived from a German word meaning 'Wolf Peach'? According to legend, these 'Wolf Peaches' were used in witchcraft as a tool in many rituals, including turning someone into a werewolf, in Christian folklore the apple is the forbidden fruit and when bitten into it causes Adam and Eve to change from .. more or less ethereal beings into what we now consider humans, it changes their world from Eden to THIS ugly hell hole and it's all brought about by a serpent, in Greek mythology it's believed that the pomegranate is what was used to keep Persephone married to Hades, she ate six of it's seeds and so was trapped to rule the underworld with him for six months out of each year, she went from a mere goddess to a goddess and a QUEEN, isn't it funny how round, red fruits seem to have a... transforming effect on people?" he hummed slyly, "What are you getting at Peter?" Stiles hissed, "Just that it fascinates me, you know they say that in all legends, there is some truth, what separates a myth from a legend, Stiles? What's the difference between a fairytale and an old family story? The only difference is who's telling it, you could say there's a seed of truth in everything," "No... you wouldn't be that stupid..." Lydia said quietly, Stiles jerked slightly at the sound of her voice and frowned deeper, "What? Lydia.. what is he talking about?" "You were wondering about the fake executions weren't you? About how Wendy- ... sorry, Jennifer- and I were pulling that off? Have you figured it out yet Little Mermaid?" "Lydia? Lydia what is he talking about?" "He's turning people," she said quietly, "Turning? You mean... like giving them the bite?" Derek prompted, "No... no he's doing it through magic, not the normal way, the healthy way, he's using dark magic to turn humans into ... whatever we are... it's not just werewolves, is it Peter? You're going for the whole nine yards, aren't you? Vampires, lamia, merfolk... what AREN'T you doing?" "My you're perceptive, I really didn't think you'd catch on that quickly," he chuckled, "He's turning people with dark magic.... seeds....." Stiles paused, taking a step back as the answer he was looking for hit him, "You sick.... sick...." "Stiles? What is it? Will you please tell me what's going on!?" Derek shouted in frustration, "He's cursing seeds and hiding them in people's food at the palace, that's how he's turning people... so then what? You rescue the prisoners and replace them with palace staff? Is that how it works?" Stiles growled, "Sometimes, it depends on how receptive they are to the change, if they look like they're going to die anyway then yes, if they look like they'll make it we bring them with us, replace the prisoner with a human and simply do a little memory tampering to make the guards forget what the REAL prisoner actually looked like," Peter said with a shrug, "I must say I'm IMPRESSED, Daniel didn't lie when he said you were just like your mother, sharp as a tack," Peter hummed, Stiles was in front of him before Derek could even realize he had moved and the witch hauled off, aiming a punch to Peter's face only for the werewolf to dodge and his fist to hit into a tree, "Don't.... don't EVER mention my mother! EVER!!" he screamed, "Oh... did I touch a sore spot? I'm SO sorry my boy, for your loss, Claudia was truly the brightest witch of-" "DON'T SAY HER NAME!" Stiles screamed, raising a hand to him again, "Stiles stop! This is what he wants!" Lydia shouted as she rushed towards him, "You don't know anything about my mother! Anything! It's bad enough her memory is already tainted, you keep your moth SHUT or I'll remove it with your head!" "Stiles stop!" "Stay back Lydia!" "STOP! You're acting like a mad man! Look at his face! Just look at his face Stiles! He wants you to get mad, he wants you to fight him!" Lydia shouted, gently placing her hands over his outstretched arm as the witch's body heaved and shook with every breath, "Just... stop.... stop giving him what he wants... please Stiles..." slowly, Stiles lowered his arm, turning and burying his face against Lydia's hair as she wrapped her arms around, "I know...." was all she had to say, "Aww... I really was expecting more... but I have to say, well done Mis-" before Peter could finish his sentence, Lydia's fist collided with his nose and he tumbled backwards a step, "Oh you couldn't let ME do that?" Stiles grumbled as he finally pulled away from her, "Not when that was his GOAL..." she muttered back, "We need to go, we need to get out of here, find Laura and your father and leave," Derek said anxiously, Stiles nodded, rubbing the back of his neck, "For once I agree... we'll deal with this when we don't have someone else's life on the line," he muttered, starting to walk back to where Derek and Danny were standing, "Oh... does that mean we can have the Argent girl then?" Jennifer asked with a grin, Lydia stopped short, turning on her heel, "What... did you say..?" "Allison... isn't that her name? Marin is already cooking up something special for her, do you have a preference? Maybe a nice little faery or an elf or ... something more sinister like, I don't know.... a succubus? A lamia? Or maybe a little mermaid like you? You could have her back then, you know, if you want... you would never have to deal with any of this ever again, just swim back to Atlantis were you belong and take the Argent with you, you could be happy there," she proposed, Lydia was silent, for the first time in what felt like an eternity, she was absolutely silent, "You... you're threatening Allison?" Stiles hissed, "Oh, no you misunderstand, I'm not threatening anyone... it's already done," Jennifer chuckled, "Allison..." Lydia breathed, hands shaking as she stared down at the ground, Stiles would have to ask later how they knew eachother, but he couldn't now, he took a deep breath and turned back to Derek, ushering Lydia over to him, "Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid again, last thing I need is another one of him," he hissed as he gestured to Danny, "Stiles wait, what are you-" "I'm going to handle this- for good," Stiles growled back, taking one last look at Derek before racing into the woods, "Something tells me this isn't going to end well," Danny hummed as he rocked on the heels of his feet, "I feel like it's not going to end well at all..."


	13. Fairest Of Them All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, Lydia and Allison were in love...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a note, this is basically just one big Allydia chapter, the entire chapter is Lydia's backstory with Allison, it very barely plays a role in the rest of the fic so if you don't care for Allydia it won't be a big deal if you skip it

**Past**

_"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream, I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam, yet I know it's true, that visions are seldom all they seem, but if I know you, I know what you'll do... you'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream,"_

Taking a deep breath, Lydia collapsed to sit down on the forest floor and held her head in her hands, "I really have completely lost it... it's gone," she breathed, feeling a weight on her shoulder and glancing up at the owl that had come to perch on her shoulder, "I suppose I'm as songless a bird as you are, but you atleast have flight," she pointed out, she took a breath, jerking and looking up when she heard a rustling in the bushes, she sprung to her feet, taking a step closer and quickly pushing the bushes aside, revealing.. a girl, a girl with chocolate brown curls and deep cocoa eyes, "Um.... hi," she greeted awkwardly, "Who are you?" Lydia asked anxiously, "A-Allison, Argent.... Allison Argent," she replied, quickly climbing to her feet, "I'm sorry if I startled you, I just... I got really lost and now I can't figure out how to get back on the main path," she confessed, Lydia took a breath and smiled slightly, pulling her away from the bushes and pointing forward, "See those really big trees with all the vines wrapped around them?" Allison nodded, "Just follow those and you'll be right back on your path," Allison smiled, nodding in agreement and starting on her way, "Thank you!!" she called, Lydia just waved, smiling painfully as she went back to where she had been sitting, beginning to hum tunelessly as she braided her hair

~+~

 _"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream,"_

Lydia knew it was aimless, her singing voice was never coming back and she had to get used to that, but still, there was something of a comfort for her in singing, despite the fact that she could barely stand to hear it

_"I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam,"_

She twirled and danced, if ever there was something good to come out of trading her tail for legs, it would definately be the ability to dance

_"But if I know you, I know what you'll do..."_

She stopped, taking a deep breath and looking down, she couldn't stand the sound of her own voice anymore, "I know what you'll do..." she heard, gasping as a pair of hands came to grasp her wrists and pull her back into someone else

_"You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream,"_

The figure concluded, twirling her gently and smiling when Lydia finally came to face her "Captor", "Allison..." the other girl smiled brightly, letting Lydia go and smiling shyly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," she apologized, "No I... I'm not frightened, just surprised, what are you doing back here? Lost again?" she guessed, "No, not at all, I came here to give you these," she replied, reaching into her jacket and pulling out a cloth pouch, "I made them myself," she said, offering them shyly, Lydia pursed her lips, taking the bag and opening it up, "Cookies?" "Yes, do you .. like cookies? I just wanted to thank you for helping me yesterday," she explained, Lydia smiled softly, holding the bag to her chest, "I love cookies, sit down, have one with me," she offered, Allison nodded, sitting next to her against the tree as Lydia handed her one of the cookies, "So.. what were you singing?" Allison asked curiously, "Well, provided you can call that SINGING..." "I think it was singing, it was beautifull," Lydia rolled her eyes, biting into her cookie, "Thanks, but you really don't have to butter me up, I know I can't sing, I lost my singing voice a long time ago," "That may be true, but I still liked it," she smiled back, Lydia stared at her, squinting slightly, "You ARE a strange one aren't you..?" Allison just laughed, shaking her head, "I could say the same about you," Lydia thought about that for a moment, she was a mermaid without a tail and a faery without wings, she was Fae but had no singing voice, "Yes... yes I suppose you could,"

~+~

_"Sing sweet Nightingale, oh sing sweet, oh sing sweet Nightingale sing, oh sing sweet Nightingale, oh sing sweet..."_

Lydia paused, smiling and leaning against the tree behind her, "Allison~ Come out come out wherever you are~" she hummed, sure enough, a moment later Allison stepped out from the bushes, walking over to her new freind and giving her a loose hug, "You know, you never told me your name," she pointed out, Lydia nodded, looking down, "Names are very powerfull for Fae Folk, we don't give them out lightly," she explained, Allison nodded in understanding, walking towards the rose bushes a few feet away as the faery thought things through, "Lydia," she finally offered, causing the human to turn around, "My name is Lydia," "Lydia... it suits you, so then what kind of Fae are you?" she asked, neeling down and inhaling the scent of the roses, carefull to only touch the petals even though the thorns wouldn't peirce her thick leather gloves anyway, "I'm just a faery," she shrugged, "Really? But... where are your wings?" she asked in confusion, Lydia chewed her lip, leaning against the tree again and staring at the ground, "I .. wasn't always a faery, and when I was turned into one, wings weren't part of the deal," she explained, Allison glanced down, thinking for a moment, "Is that how you lost your singing voice too? Whoever turned you into a faery..." "That's right, very perceptive," she agreed, combing her fingers through her long auburn hair, "And that's why you still sing isn't it? Because it's part of you... what kind of music is it that you sing? I've never heard anything like it before," "Actually, it's faery music," she replied with a smile, "Faery music..." Allison echoed, "Yes... but you know... it's been so long since I've heard it propperly, my own voice sounds like someone choking on gravel-" "It doesn't-" "It does to ME... I'd love to hear faery music the way it's meant to be heard, if you want... I could teach you some songs," she offered, Allison's eyes lit up and she smiled brightly, nodding in agreement, "I would love to," "Good, then I look forward to seeing you here again," "Absolutely... as much as possible,"

~+~

_"A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep, at night you will lose your heartache, whatever you wish for you keep, have faith in your dreams and some day, your rainbow will come smiling through, no matter how your heart is greiving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true,"_

Allison, as it turns out, is a natural at singing Faery songs, Lydia had only been teaching her for a few visits but already she sounded better than half the Fae Folk Lydia knew, and it was a delight to watch her face light up when she sang, to see the way her eyes sparkled and to hear the joy in her voice, she wondered breifly if perhaps Allison wasn't allowed to sing at home, and it occurred to her that for as much as Allison knew about Lydia, Lydia knew surprisingly little about Allison, "Lydia?" she heard, looking up and laughing when Allison placed a crown of flowers on her head, "You made this?" she guessed, "I found them on my way back home yesterday and had some free time last night... so I thought why not? Flower crowns are important in Faery culture aren't they?" she asked as she sat down in the feild of flowers next to her freind, the faery rolled onto her side to face her and propped her head up on her hand, "You know something? I have no idea, I haven't been a faery that long, I don't know any other faeries actually," "You don't? Why not?" Allison asked with concern, Lydia shrugged, sitting up and playing with the hem of her dress, "I just haven't met any, I'm not sure if it's because I wasn't born a faery... or because they're too afraid to be here," "Be... here?" "In the open like this, technically the Enchanted Forest is only accessible to those who are true of heart, but we're still in the human realm, it's a dangerous place with all of the hunters afoot, it's probbably safer in the faery realm but God knows I have no idea how to get there," she sighed, Allison frowned sympathetically and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tilting her head, "Do you want to live in the faery realm?" "No... I like it here, this is where I'm accustomed to, and besides," she paused, playfully pushing Allison back into the flowers and hovering over her, "I wouldn't be able to see you all the time if I lived there, now would I?" she grinned, Allison laughed, pretending to struggle against Lydia's strength and blowing a breath upwards to move the dark locks that had fallen against her face, "You were never human were you?" she guessed, Lydia frowned, heart skipping a beat as she gave a bittersweet smile and pushed herself off of Allison, "How could you tell?" Allison shrugged, rolling onto her side, "I'm not sure.... you're just not like any human... you're too...." "Too...?" "I really don't know... you're just too ... MUCH to be human," "Too much?" Lydia echoed in confusion, "Yes, you're too full of muchness," Allison teased back, "Oh, carefull there, you're slipping into Wonderland language I think," "Wonderland is a real place?" Allison asked in awe, Lydia nodded, chuckling, "Wonderland, Neverland, Oz, Atlantis, Avalon... you name it, it's probbably real," "So where do you come from? It doesn't seem like here," she mused, Lydia inhaled deeply, rolling onto her side again, "Atlantis, I'm from Atlantis," Allison leaned back, watching her in surprise, "So then... you used to be..?" "A mermaid? Yes, I was a mermaid," "Why did you change?" Allison frowned, "Because I wanted too much, I thought I was in love- I WAS in love.... love just wasn't enough," she shrugged, "I'm sorry to hear that," Allison said sympathetically, "It's ok, it's because of that tragedy that I ended up here, with you.... besides, I'd much rather know that now so that I can still have the chance to find my one true love than to find out later and miss it," "I suppose... but I'm sure it still hurts," "Oh it hurts alright," Lydia laughed, flopping down and staring at the sky, "Atlantians have a saying.... 'If I have to fall in love three times to find the right one, then I am blessed to love thrice, cursed to hurt twice, and hopefull that this one will last'," "How many times have you been in love so far?" Allison asked curiously, Lydia smiled at her, "Well that depends, it might be once, it might be twice," she teased, "Oh, very straight-forward answer," "Oh Honey, nothing about me is straight OR forward,"

~+~

_"Don't worry, about a thing, 'cause every little thing, is gonna be alright, don't you worry," **"Don't worry,"** "About a thing," " **"About a thing,"** "'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright," **"Every little thing,"**_

Allison giggled when she stood up and took Lydia by the hand, listening to the magically generated faery music around them

_"Woke up this morning, smiled at the rising sun, to three little birds sit by my doorstep, singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true, singing 'This is my message to you~'"_

The two laughed as they danced in the feild of flowers, sprinkled with Allison's voice and Lydia pitching in a few lyrics here and there, for the first time since become a faery- or more like a half faery considering she didn't even have wings- she didn't mind her lack of singing voice, she didn't mind how destroyed, gutted, she felt, because she didn't feel destroyed or gutted at all, with Allison she felt complete, with Allison she felt that not even her voicelessness could hold her back, she felt like a faery for the first time since becoming one and didn't even notice the lack of wings, _"Don't worry,"_ Allison giggled sing-songly as she leaned in and gave Lydia a soft kiss, the faery smiled and leaned back after a moment, making her human partner frown, "I have something for you," she grinned as the music around them began to fade out, "You do?" Allison asked in surprise, Lydia nodded slowly, smiling more and reaching into her blouse, "Close your eyes~" she demanded, Allison pouted just slightly and closed her eyes, waiting paitiently as Lydia took the necklace she had out of her blouse and gently placed it around Allison's neck, straightening it slightly and stepping back, "Ok... open your eyes now," she commanded softly, Allison fluttered her eyes open, glancing down and gently lifting the necklace to eye level, "Lydia.... is this...?" "Pixie Dust... yes, enough for two wishes," she breathed, the human shook her head, putting her hands up in mock surrender, "Oh Lydia I ca-" "Please, I want you to have it, Allison, I want you ... I want you to be happy, I want all of your dreams to come true, all of your hopes and wishes and desires... I want to do that for you," "But raw Pixie Dust is so hard to get...." "I know, that's what makes it special isn't it?" she held the other's hands tightly, smile brightening, "I want you to wish for whatever you want, be carefull with it, but not overly cautious, make your dreams come true Allison, now there's no need to worry about the cost,"

~+~

"My first mission?" Allison asked with excitement, "That's right, I'll admit it's a challenging one, do you think you're up for it?" Allison nodded excitedly and sprung up, "Yes Mother, I can definately do it," she confirmed, the older huntress smirked slightly, "I'm glad to hear it, you'll be off tommorrow then, into the forest," "The forest? What am I to do?" "There's a faery woman there, no one knows her name, but they say she has lips as red as blood and skin as pale as snow, you must kill her- cut out her heart, and give it to me," Allison tensed, swallowing as her heart skipped a beat, "Why am I hunting this ... faery? And why do you require her heart?" Allison's mother raised an eyebrow, "Is there a problem with it?" she asked suspiciously, "Ofcourse not Mother, I just... don't recall ever hearing of hunters cutting out faery hearts... that's all, I'm just curious," she explained quickly, she sighed deeply, moving closer so she could speak lower to her daughter, "There are rumors that this faery is going to leave soon, to go to Avalon, and be trained as Morgana's successor," Allison gasped and shook her head, "No... no that can't be..." her mother nodded slowly, "I'm not going to swear to it's accuracy but it's a widely enough accepted prediction that I believe it holds merit..." "But there hasn't been a trained High Preistess who was born outside of Avalon since... well... since Morgana herself!" "I take it by your shock that you understand the gravity of this situation then? If a faery who can travel outside of Avalon- outside of CAMELOT- is to take over after Morgana do you realize what that would do?" "I do," Allison confirmed, "We would have our land stripped from us... ruled by Fae... we cannot allow this to go unchecked, no matter how small the chances are, I need her heart because you know that those Fae Folk would do EVERYTHING they're capable of to bring her back to life if there's any way at all, the only way to prevent that is if her heart is crushed to dust, I can do that Allison, I can turn it to dust... will you go?" Allison swallowed and nodded, standing slowly, "I will go Mother," she replied quietly, her mother gave a nod, standing as well, "Don't forget, bring me her heart Allison, bring me the heart of this so-called Snow White,"

~+~

"Is it true?" Lydia turned around, lighting up excitedly, "Allison!" she called, happiness faltering when she saw the hurt look on Allison's face, "What's wrong?" she asked with concern, "I heard you were going to Avalon... to train under Morgana, is that true?" she repeated quietly, "What? No! No ofcourse not! Where would you hear such a ridiculous thing!? Even if I wanted to... Avalon is such a closed off place, I wouldn't even be allowed in- much less trained under _Lady Morgan_ unless I had potential to Ascend and.... so far I don't...." she replied, biting her lip nervously, Allison inhaled, stepping closer, "Lydia... you have to go," she said quietly, "Wah... what? Allison what are you saying?" "Hunters, hunters are looking for you," "Hunt-" "I'm a hunter's daughter... I... I AM a hunter myself, please understand, I never EVER wanted to harm you... I... everything that I've said and done has been completely genuine I swear," she said quickly, "I don't understand... why now?" "Because my family sent me to take your life.... to rip out your heart, lips as red as blood, skin as pale as snow... they're calling you 'Snow White', that's you they're describing isn't it?" Lydia stepped back, a grimace on her face, "I don't understand, why would the-" "Because they think you're going to become a High Preistess, I don't know why or how they heard of that, I have no idea... but they think it and they're determined to have your heart cut from your chest, so you have to go, you have to ...." "Go where!? I have no where else to go Allison! I don't have wings, I can't fly!" she insisted, shaking her head and looking down, "How long do I have before.... how long do I have to run?" Allison shook her head, "Not long... they sent me to ..." "Oh...." there was a pause and Lydia stepped closer, giving her a long hug and pulling back to place a chaste kiss on her lips, "I'm ... I'll leave, I'll find a way, I promise, just... stay safe ok?" she said quietly, taking a step back, "Lydia wait," she swallowed, taking the bottle of Pixie Dust from around her neck and pouring some in her hand, "Allison... what are you-" "I wish that Lydia would find a place hidden from hunters and go there NOW," she said, "Allison wait! You don't know-!" before she could finish the purple dust was blown forward onto her body and in the blink of an eye she was gone, Allison nearly wept, wiping her hands on her pants and capping the bottle, placing it back in her blouse and falling to her nees as she sobbed, she would tell her parents Lydia was already gone, accept their dissappointment and reprimands, and pray for her first love, pray that she would find happiness and be safe, and pray that she would see her again one day, she kept the rest of the dust and planned to use it again, one day, when she was no longer cursed with this life, to find her faery freind again, "And if not, may you love thrice..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I debated for a long time on if I should go with Allydia and Scissac or have Scallison and let the other chips fall where they may, the thing is I do prefer Scallison to Allydia and Scissac but the other two are also great and had some good set up here, I ultimately let the charectors decide how it played out and although I'm happy with the end results (mostly) I do sort of mourn what happened here with Allison and Lydia, although rest assured, this isn't the end for them
> 
> Also, the songs are as follows that Allison and Lydia are singing:
> 
> -Once Upon A Dream from Sleeping Beauty https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXbHShUnwxY  
> -Sing Sweet Nightingale from Cinderella https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F5qgEBHAVM  
> -A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes from Cinderella https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H_1PiRg2H4  
> -Three Little Birds from Strange Magic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBcM7x8wOmg
> 
> I suppose it would have been more appropriate to include atleast one song from Snow White but I can't very well picture Allison or Lydia with any of those songs in their situation to be honest


	14. Defying Gravity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, it took a werewolf to ask a witch to defy gravity with him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I'm being completely honest the theme of this chapter is more a crazy dream of mine than something that's actually reasonable but it turned into something that (atleast to me) makes sense... now THAT'S luck!
> 
> If you haven't heard Defying Gravity yet, I so suggest you do! It'll certainly make the chapter make more sense, I decided to go with this beautifully animation-accompanied version of the song instead of the strict soundtrack version because the animation is actually what made me want to do this to begin with https://vimeo.com/123259611

"Issac!! ... ISSAC!!!" Stiles shouted, heart skipping a beat as Issac flopped down in front of him, "Crimany.... what's with the urgency? Not like I was trying to- ... where are we?" Issac asked in confusion as he glanced around, he had never been to Wonderland but this didn't look like it to him... "Neverland but that isn't important right now! Allison is in trouble!" he shouted urgently, "Wait what?" "It's a LONG story just... get Scott! You have to go help her NOW! Don't let her eat anything from the palace, they're trying to poisen her!" he almost screamed, Issac nodded timidly, stepping back, "Summon me again in a few minutes, I'll get Scott on his way but then I want you to tell me what's going on," he demanded, "Yeah later later just go... Issac just go please!" he shouted, Issac nodded, vanishing again as Stiles slowly collapsed onto the ground, his body shaking as he lowered his head and let out a deep, fretfull scream

~+~

"Now wait just a moment, don't you think ONE person going after the witch is enough? I'm SURE my nephew can handle himself," Peter said with a sigh, "I'm going after him," Lydia insisted, turning to Danny and pursing her lips, "I know as long as you're bound to Stiles YOU can't do too many dastardly deeds... but your freinds here can and if you LET them, I will use every implement of torture in my arsenal to make you regret it without actually killing you," she threatened, "You know I'm not as much of a bad guy as you all seem to think I am," Danny hummed, "You are working WITH the bad guys here!" Lydia huffed back, "We're on your SIDE Sweetheart," Peter snorted, "Just because we have a different way of handling it doesn't mean our goals aren't the same," Jennifer shrugged, "I am NOT having this discussion! Just..." she paused, sighing, "I'm going, Danny, I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're in charge," she hissed, turning on her heel and running into the woods, "Am I the only one who has a terrible feeling about all of this?" Jennifer asked, "Not at all," Danny shrugged back as Peter started stalking towards the edge of the woods were Lydia had run through, smirking slightly, "Something WICKED this way comes..."

~+~

"Stiles! Stiles!!" How someone who seemed so small could run so fast was still beyond him but Derek had been given a massive run for his money already, "STILES!!" he screamed, finally entering the clearing and seeing Stiles sitting on the ground in front of the lake, "Stiles..." "Go away Derek," he growled, Derek inhaled deeply through his nose and tried not to take that personally, "Just .. let me help," Derek offered, stepping closer, "Go away Derek!" he insisted, the werewolf flinched back, blinking and finally understanding why Stiles was trying to send him away, he was shaking desperately and wave after wave of green light streamed out in short, electric bursts from him- magic.... raw magic.... it was like he was bleeding it.... raw magic was dangerous when touched, especially by someone who isn't a witch, Stiles wasn't pushing him away out of anger or isolation... he was trying to protect him, "Stiles listen to me," he said quickly, stepping over to him and taking his hand, Stiles jerked his head up, pulling his hand back immediately and staring at Derek with some sort of guarded fear, "I know all of this... it's...." he took a breath, "I understand how difficult this is, how ... painfull and frightening.... and... we've been lied to, manipulated from the start... that isn't easy to handle, but we can get through this," "No, I don't think you understand," Stiles said quickly, curling in more on himself, "I do... Stiles... don't be afraid, we can-" "I'm not, they're the ones who should be afraid... of me," he growled, Derek blinked in confusion, watching as Stiles got up abruptly and stepped a few feet back, "Derek you don't understand.... something has changed within me.... something is not the same, I don't know what it is... I don't know why this is happening... but lately it seems like my power is growing, my magic is getting more and more out of hand, I don't know what it'll do next and that... now that things are so complicated.... what if I lose control? I've been in control for years now but sometimes I slip... just like I'm slipping now, I don't know how to bring it back in, how to anchor it... I don't know what to do Derek," Derek took a deep breath and stepped closer, holding his hand out cautiously, "Stiles... I'm a werewolf, I know better than anyone how it feels not to have any control, I know how horrible it can feel and I know the importance of an anchor, I ca-" "No, you don't understand! This isn't some... random burst on the full moon! This is build up! It's... weight that won't go away! One second I'm ... conjuring broomsticks," he paused, a pile of broomsticks falling from the sky, "The next I'm... setting things on fire!! It isn't something that just happens suddenly, it's ... I can feel it coming.... and I should have felt it coming this time... why didn't I!?" he screamed, tangling his fingers in his hair, Derek swallowed, stepping forward again and, carefully avoiding the electric pulses of magic, grasped Stiles' hands, "I'm telling you, just listen to me-" Stiles ripped his hands back, shaking his head and stepping back again, "Stop, Derek! Just stop! You can't say anything that will help, I've heard it all, tried it all, nothing works!" he shouted, he took a deep breath, resisting the urge to shout, "Stiles, why can't you just stay calm for ONCE instead of flying off the handle? Just listen to me, for five seconds just listen to me!" he insisted, Stiles swallowed, jaw tense and hands tucked against his chest anxiously, but it seemed to be a sign for him to continue, "I can help you... I really think I can..." "Really? Through all of ... all of THIS? Any normal day Derek- well, normal for US- I might believe you, but with everything else going on? How can you? How COULD you? You have... a missing sister and a psychotic uncle and staying ALIVE to worry about! You don't need ME adding to your problems! You could go home right now, take your sister and go, never look back... you could have what you wanted, you don't need to bother with me..." Derek sighed and shook his head, "I know.. but I don't want it, I CAN'T want it anymore... Stiles, you're part of my life now, like it or not, and I am part of this war, like it or not... it's too late for second guessing, too late to go back to sleep, that isn't how this works," he insisted, Stiles shook his head again, gasping as a particularly bad spark of electricity shot out towards Derek, "No... no you can't do that, this... I'M not going to work... you're putting too much faith in me, I'm stuck... but you shouldn't be," "Is that really how you're thinking Stiles? Or is that my uncle and this ... this ISLAND polluting your mind?" he frowned, "I'm not going to back down... it's time I trust my instincts, close my eyes, and leap... with you," "Can't I make you understand? You're having delusions of granduar!" he insisted, "Never," Derek swore, picking up one of the broomsticks and holding it out towards Stiles, the witch did nothing but stare at it anxiously, looking up at Derek in confusion, "I'm through accepting limits because someone says they're so, some things I cannot change but until I try I'll never know," "Derek... I'm not saying you can't change this, I'm saying-" "No! I'm fighting with you Stiles, and I'll take all of your flaws and all of your sparks of magic with me! Werewolves have enough control issues of our own... you can't expect me to back away because you have your's too... you don't understand, too long I've been afraid of losing love I guess I've lost, well if that's love... it comes at much too high a cost," he moved closer, tapping the tip of the broomstick against one of the sparks and letting it go swiftly, as if it had just caught on fire, as the green energy crept up through it and it began to levitate, Derek grinned, stepping closer to it, "I'd sooner buy defying gravity," he smirked, placing his hand on it, "Derek... no! What are you doing!?" he shouted as Derek placed a foot on the broomstick, "As someone told me lately, everyone deserves the chance to fly," he teased, stepping onto it fully, "Derek stop! That's not stable!" Stiles shouted, watching in horror as the broomstick started to lift higher and higher into the air, "Get on!" he insisted, holding his hand out for the witch, "What!?" "Think of what we could do, together," he insisted, Stiles swallowed, stepping closer, "Unlimited... together we're unlimited, together we'll be the greatest team there's ever been, Stiles...." he stepped forward again, taking Derek's hand firmly, "Dreams the way we planned them," he said quietly, Derek beamed, helping him step onto the broomstick, "If we work in tandem, there's no fight we cannot win," "Just you and I... defying gravity," he smiled, watching as the green sparks of magic all started to flutter down to the broomstick as it rose higher and higher in the air, "They'll never bring us down," Derek breathed, Stiles took a breath as well, a final tremor running through his body as he stared up at Derek, "I hope you're happy, now that you're choosing this... I hope it brings you bliss," "You too," Derek smiled, "I really hope you get it, and you don't live to regret it Derek..." "I won't, I know that I won't," Derek promised, grasping his hand more firmly and pulling him towards the edge of the broomstick, "Derek?" "We're defying gravity right?" he teased, taking a step off of the broom, Stiles' eyes went wide and before he knew it another broom had risen right beneath Derek's foot, Stiles took a breath, staring at his hands and then at the broomstick that he didn't remember summoning, watching as Derek smirked at him, "You jerk! You imbecile! What if I hadn't caught you!?" he shouted, pushing the werewolf roughly, Derek chuckled, a third broom landing behind the second as he stepped back, "I knew you would, you're alot better than you think you are Stiles," he insisted, holding his hand out to Stiles as broomstick after broomstick lined up behind eachother, creating a path for Derek to step down, Stiles smiled slightly, taking his hand and following him with ease, "And if we're flying solo, atleast we're flying free," he grinned, Stiles nodded, green sparks starting to flood down his arms again, but this time aimed towards the broomsticks with mastered ease, "And to those who ground me, take a message back from me... tell that I am defying gravity," "We're flying high, defying gravity," Derek added, pulling him closer as the broomsticks started to depart, "And soon I'll match them in renown," Stiles smirked, aiming his magic towards the broomstick they were currently sharing as it rose higher and higher in the sky, flying along a small loop of a path that Stiles had designated, "And nobody in all the land is ever gonna bring me down," he breathed, Derek gripped his hands tightly, leaning forward and pressing their foreheads together, "They're never gonna bring us down," he promised, both blissfully unaware of the company watching them from the ground, barely able to see them so high in the sky but clicking his tounge anyway, Peter sighed, shaking his head, "You know I'll have to bring them down...."

~+~

Lydia shuddered as she walked, rubbing her arms and glancing over at some flowers, they would have to do.... pausing, she picked a large bouquet of them and set them on the ground in front of her, "Into a cloak," she demanded as she waved her wand at them, smirking when they turned on command into a red cloak, she flicked her wand and it shrank into a small clip to put in her hair as it always did, then picked up the cloak and easily put it around her shoulders, tieing it with ease and pulling the hood up, she was just about to start out on the path again when she noticed something very peculiar just behind were the flowers had been, "I really shouldn't stray, though I suppose a small delay... might be ok..." she mused softly to herself as she stepped closer to the object, squinting slightly, "A... frying pan? What in the world is it doing out here?" she asked herself, reaching into the vines to start tugging it loose, pausing slightly when she heard a growl lowly behind her, one that she didn't reckognize... swallowing, she started tugging harder on the pan, "Hello little girl," came the voice that the growl belonged to, now THAT she recognized.... "What's your rush? You're missing all the flowers," his voice slinked in a sing-song hum, Lydia swallowed as he got nearer, "The birds are singing sweetly, you'll miss the birds completely if you keep up this hurry," she took a breath, giving the pan another tug, "Just so little girl, any path, so many worth exploring, just one would be SO boring... and just look what you're ignoring," he growled, coming up closer behind her, Lydia inhaled deeply, "Hello little gi-" he was silenced by the loud thunderish sound of metal hitting his jaw as Lydia swung the frying pan and nocked him backwards on his rear, taking a few deep breaths she held the pan closer and started to walk backwards, "Hello stupid wolf, and goodbye," she huffed as she broke into a run as far away from Peter as she could get

~+~

"What do you mean Allison is in trouble!?" Scott panicked as he rushed to his feet, "Stiles wasn't clear, he just said that she was going to be poisened, something about the food... we have to get to her now though, it's urgent," he insisted, "How will you get all the way to the palace like this though? You don't have a horse," Kira pointed out, Issac snapped his fingers, "I'll summon a Nightmare Horse, not my favorite thing but it'll do," "And what of the prince? He can't very well go riding up to the city, people will see him, they'll notice," Erica pointed out as she flexed her fingers, trying to keep ice from settling at their tips, "Not if I have anything to say about it," Kira turned around, smiling brightly, "Mom! What do you mean?" she asked in sudden confusion, "Oh it won't be that difficult, faeries fancy themselves masters of glamor but NO creature is better at disguise than Kitsune," she hummed, taking Scott's wrist, "Come with me, we just need some herbs and charms and I'll-" "Um, Miss Noshiko, I really don't mean to be rude but this is urgent, do we really have ti-" "It'll take Issac a moment to summon a horse strong enough to make such a journey anyway, and it'll all be pointless if you can't even get into the city, just trust me," she insisted, dragging Scott away through one of the tunnels, there was a beat of silence before Issac piped up again, "How does she know anything about Incubi?" "My mother is a few hundred years old... I'd be more worried if she DIDN'T know a little bit about everything..."

~+~

"THERE you two are, thank goodness, I thought that 'singing in the sky' thing was going to last forever," Danny said with an exaggerated sigh, "What are you talking about?" Stiles frowned as he and Derek emerged once again from the woods, "Oh we're having one of _those_ moments are we? I can respect that," Danny shrugged, Stiles sighed, "Great, you've lost even more of your marbles than I thought," he grumbled, "Speaking of losing things, where are Lydia and my psychotic uncle?" Derek frowned, "Lydia went looking for you and Peter went looking for her," "And what about Casper and Wendy?" Stiles asked, "Pan and Jennifer you mean? They ran off in the opposite direction, I WOULD have gone after them if it weren't for they... *ahem* _leash_ ," he stated, glaring slightly at Stiles, "Mother of... are you serious!? Not only have we lost all of the bad guys but we lost Lydia too!? Oh my GOD and we haven't EVEN found Laura or my dad yet!" he groaned deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Laura? I know of a Laura," Stiles jumped, turning on his heel quickly and seeing a pink-haired faery woman standing behind him, "Warn a person.." he muttered, "You know Laura? A werewolf named Laura?" Derek asked eagerly, the faery brightened, nodding happily as the sound of bells followed the motion, "She should be at the campfire like she is most nights," she replied, "The campfire... can you take us there?" Derek asked, trying to restrain his hope and excitement, "Sure I can," she smiled back, wings fluttering, "Thank you, um- ... what's your name?" Stiles asked, the faery seemed a little taken aback by this but just smiled more, "Caitlin, you can just call me Caitlin," she replied, "I'll shrink so I can lead you more easily, just start without me, right through those trees, I'll be right there," she insisted, reaching into a pouch on her hip and pulling out a palm full of Pixie Dust before letting it shower over herself, Stiles nodded and waved happily as he grabbed Derek's hand, Danny following behind them as they all started away from the shore and further into the island, the Pixie Dust in the mean time worked wonders and within seconds Caitlin had gone from five feet tall to five inches tall, "Not too far," she muttered to herself, wings fluttering, "Tinkerbell! I hope you aren't doing what I think you're doing," she heard, turning and frowning deeply as another faery flew quickly towards her, Caitlin took a "step" back and frowned, "I'm just doing what's right, it isn't fair to keep all of these people here Vidia," she insisted, the brunette in front of her scrunched up her face and huffed, "I hope you know what you're doing Tinkerbell, if Pan finds out about this- and he WILL- Pixie Hollow cou-" "I know," she interrupted, watching the group as they waded past trees and through vines below her, "I know... but I have faith, everything is going to be ok... I know it," "HOW do you know that? With what? Faith trust and Pixie Dust?" Vidia scowled, Caitlin took a breath and shot off towards the group, only muttering a short "Yes," in answer to the other faery behind her

~+~

Lydia took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair, she had no idea where she was, before Peter came along she atleast had some symbalance of a direction she was going in, but now, after having run blindly away from the werewolf, she was completely and utterly lost, she pursed her lips, humming lowly to herself as a means of keeping herself calm so she could make her way through this, but it was getting so dark now... sighing, she paused and gathered some leaves in a pile, drawing her wand out again, "Into a lantern," she instructed, picking up the newly formed lantern and taking a step back, freezing suddenly when she felt herself bump into something large and solid... and that something MOVED.... swallowing, she snapped her fingers against the lantern, creating a tiny spark of light, and then took another deep breath and exhaled against the spark, creating a flame large enough to illuminate the surrounding area, she turned around, staring at the rust colored skin of the creature behind her and lifting the lantern higher, staring up at the face of a dragon

~+~

"I don't understand, he looks the same to me," Issac pointed out with a frown as Noshiko guided Scott back into the main section of the foxhole, "That's because you're an Incubus, only humans see glamours," Kira shrugged, "How didn't I know that?" Issac muttered with concern, "That's another question for another time, I'm afraid, just focus on getting to the palace as quickly as possible," the elder kistune said immediately, turning her attention back to Scott, "Now you remember what you have to do don't you? Keep your hold on the leaf, no matter what, or the glamour will wear off and you won't be able to get it back," she warned, Scott nodded, holding the aforementioned leaf close to his chest, "Right, I can do that," he agreed, "Then you best be going, before it gets too late and there's no hope left for saving your freind,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lydia and Peter's interaction is 1000% taken from Little Red and The Wolf's interaction from Into The Woods doing "Hello Little Girl" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNKQ06BBx_8 because I could just... I could so clearly see Peter as The Wolf it's just... not even fair...
> 
> And yes the Disney Fairies franchise absolutely made it's way in here *cough*


	15. Magic Carpet Ride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time there was a girl held up high in a tower...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be one of those multi-part chapters where there are essentially three different parts of the story going on at once, I just hope that they flow into eachother well enough

"Laura!! Laura!!" As soon as she heard him calling out to her she knew exactly who it was and jumped up from her place by the fire, running towards the voice instantly, "Derek... it's really you," she breathed in releif, jumping over a few logs in front of her and swinging forward, wrapping her arms around him tightly, "Laura..." he breathed, closing his eyes and hugging her back just as tightly, "I can't believe I really found you..." "How DID you find me?" she asked quietly, "That... that's a long story, but I promise to tell you on the way home," he promised, Laura finally leaned back, staring up at him pensively, "Derek... I'm supposed to be dead, I don't think we can go home..." "Ah see, that's where I come in," she heard, glancing at the lanky, pale witch beside her brother, "Stiles here, I sorta busted Derek out of jail and the prince wanted to come with us so now we're fugitives and about to go to war with the king so... pretty sure you being alive isn't that big of a problem right now," he pointed out, Laura looked as if she had just been slapped in the face with something, staring at Stiles with complete and utter shock, "Is he serious?" she asked suspiciously, turning to Derek, the werewolf nodded slowly, "He is, like I said I'll explain it on the way home," she nodded, biting her lip, "You mentioned the prince... he's with you?" she asked quietly, "Well not on the island, but yeah, he's hiding out with us back in our land," Stiles answered, deciding to leave out the part about his sudden departure to help a huntress he seemed to be in love with... "If the prince is with you, then I know someone you really need to meet," she said lowly, "And who would that be?" Stiles asked curiously, Laura paused mid-step, only glancing back at him for a moment before starting to walk again, "His mother,"

~+~

Despite being a faery, Lydia had actually never seen a dragon in person before today, aquatic dragons weren't rare but they didn't usually live in the more shallow areas of the sea that merfolk were more prone to, and although land dragons were pretty common they were much more carefull than many other creatures to only stay where they're wanted, rather than try to integrate into human societies where they aren't, so this was the first time she had ever seen one up close, and though she knew that they didn't live up to their reputation as being vicious any more than sharks lived up to their's of being man eaters (hint: They didn't) it was still a nerve-wrecking thing to stare up at a massive, scaled creature more than three times her _height_ (not to mention mass) with a mouth full of teeth that easily rivaled her arm in width, the dragon reared up, smoke flaring from his nostrils as he uncurled his tail and sat up completely before standing, peering down at Lydia and opening his jaws wide, the mermaid's heart pounded in her chest as she watched him, and then, suddenly, an air of smoke surrounded him, seemingly stemming from no where, and created a wirlwind so strong that she had to brace herself and close her eyes tightly, holding her arms in front of her face, when the swirling wind finally quit and she was able to look down again, she found with absolute shock that there was a man before her, taller than she was but not by much, with soft brown hair and bright green eyes, "I'm sorry if I frightened you, I didn't mean to," he said quickly, "I'm Jordan, but most people call me Parrish," he added, "Parrish?" Lydia asked slowly, "It's a LONG story I'm afraid, and what do you like to be called?" a soft smile graced her face as she stepped forward, "Lydia," she replied, Parrish's eyes sparkled and he nodded happily, "Lydia... to what do I owe the pleasure of a mermaid coming to the tower?" "I'm afraid I'm lost, I was looking for a freind..." she paused, looking up and only then noticing the tall, slightly broken looking tower behind him, "Parrish... were you guarding that tower there?" "Ah? Yes, I was," he nodded, glancing over his shoulder, "May I ask... what's in there?" "It isn't a 'what', Miss Lydia, it's a who," Lydia's heart skipped a beat, "Then.... who?" "You could say she's a princess of sorts, to this island atleast... her name is Cora,"

~+~

"What exactly do you plan to do once we get there anyway?" Issac asked as the Nightmare Horse stampeded on towards the main city, "I ... actually... I'm not sure, does she know you Issac?" Scott asked hopefully, "I'm afraid not, we've never even met in passing," "Then she'd be listening to two strangers trying to tell her she's going to be poisened, that doesn't sound very reliable," Scott observed, "Exactly," Issac sighed back, "I hope you can come up with something before we get there, if she swallows even a single bite... who knows what could happen," Scott swallowed, nodding slowly as he pressed his head against Issac's back and squeezed his eyes shut, how would he get her attention without bringing attention to himself....?

~+~

"I don't get it, why would Scott's mom be here?" Stiles huffed with a deep-set frown, Derek just shook his head slowly, "I don't know Stiles, you're asking the wrong person," "The Queen never really explained how that happened, just that she ended up here after being imprisoned," Laura mused as she lead them through the trees towards another campfire, "But why wou-" "Stiles, maybe you should just ask her," Derek proposed softly, he frowned, shutting his mouth reluctantly, "I'm impressed Little Bro, here I thought you'd get yourself killed without me and yet you've found yourself a nice little witch to romp around with," Laura teased, Stiles snorted a laugh and Derek just went red in the face, deciding not to answer her as she cleared the bushes in front of her, "Derek, Stiles, I'd like to introduce you t-" "DAD!!" Stiles screamed suddenly, nearly nocking Laura over as he sprinted forward and tackled the man sitting in front of the fire, "S-Stiles!?" he coughed, "Dad! Oh God... Dad! I really didn't think I'd find you! Are you ok? Have you been eating well? You look pale, are you sleeping? Dad are yo-" "Son.. SON!" he shouted, carefully pushing Stiles back and uprighting himself, "I feel like I should be the one asking YOU these questions," Stiles took several deep breaths, rubbing at his eyes and willing the tears waiting there not to fall, "I ... God... yeah... I'm fine, I'm good, Derek is the angel in grumpy armor that's been um... helping... does that even make sense? Oh God Dad I just..." "I know Stiles... I know," he said lowly, wrapping his arms around Stiles and giving him a tight hug back, "Awwww," Laura cooed adoringly, Derek glanced away, feeling somewhat wrong watching such an intimate and private moment as his eyes landed on a woman sitting a few feet away from Stiles' father, her hair was dark and curly and her eyes were soft and kind, but what caught his attention was her hand, specifically, her fingernail, one looked considerably shorter than the others although it was obvious that it had already grown back from whenever it had broken... he stepped closer, inhaling deeply and faintly recognizing the scent, "You... you were in the cell under the palace," he said before he could stop himself, the woman turned her attention back to him and Laura smacked herself in the face, "Oh my God Derek you don't just say that sort of thing to people.... wait why do you know anything about the cell in the..." she paused, gasping loudly, "Derek were you.... oh that figures, OFCOURSE you two are here because.... oh Derek... I'm sorry..." she said mournfully, "Wait... what? No.. Laura no we're here to bring you back, I just.... it's a long, long story...." he said quickly, Stiles finally rose to his feet, grabbing Derek's hand to get his attention, "Derek? This is my dad, John, Dad this is Derek, he's my.... werewolf... um... freind thing," he said awkwardly, "Nice to meet you son, thanks for keeping Stiles out of trouble," John said with a warm smile as he shook Derek's hand, "As much as I hate to admit it Sir, it was Stiles who got ME out of trouble... how did you get here if you don't mind my asking? Aren't you human?" "We both are," John nodded, glancing towards the woman beside him, "Then...?" the older man heaved a sigh, sitting on the log he had been sitting on before and gesturing for the new arrivals to do the same, "You'd better sit down, we've got a bit of a long story ourselves,"

~+~

"Why is she in the tower?" Lydia asked as she stared up at the tower in front of her, "I don't know, all I know is that she's been here since I got here about a year ago, I can't get in the tower but she comes to the window sometimes and we talk, so I stay out here and guard it for her to make sure she's alright, I gather food when I can but most of the time it's the other guy who brings food to her," Parrish shrugged back, "Other guy?" Lydia asked curiously, "Mm, a werewolf, he's an older one with short brown hair and blue eyes, and he always looks like he's just freshly murdered someone," Lydia's lips curved into a snarl and she groaned, "Peter..." she spat venomously, "You know him?" "Yes and I know that he's nothing good, you said he brings Cora food and is the only one who can get in? He must be keeping her prisoner," "That's what I thought too but if I attack him then there'll be no way for ANYONE to get in and help Cora," he sighed, Lydia's lips twitched, "If Peter has a way in, I'll find it, stand by Parrish, we're going to get her out of there,"

~+~

"Thank you so much for this Miss Morrell," Allison smiled as she accepted the tray that the older woman handed to her, "Ofcourse, I know you must have had a long day, just relax and enjoy your food," she said with a soft smile, Allison thanked her again and waved to her as she turned and left, shutting the door behind her and sighing loudly, she supposed she should just be happy that Kate hadn't been back, she still wasn't entirely sure what she was going to tell her once she asked, surely in the morning, but she still wasn't sure what to do... just as she was setting the bowl of soup down on the table across from her bed, she paused, hearing something tapping against her window, tilting her head in confusion, she walked towards the large French doors and shoved them open, walking onto the balcony and peering down below to see two men standing there, she didn't recognize either of them but for some reason one- the darker haired one- seemed very enthusiastic to see her, "Allison!! Allison it's me Scott!" Allison narrowed her eyes immediately and turned on her heel, "You don't even LOOK like the prince," she sighed, starting to walk back into the palace when she heard another, though louder, "ALLISON!!!" sighing again, she turned to tell the man below to bugger off when she blinked in surprise, seeing none other than the prince standing below her, "Scott?" she breathed, "Don't eat the food!! Please whatever you do! DON'T eat anything!" he insisted, she tilted her head, confusion clearly evident on her face, "Just... just hang on ok!? I'm going to come up!" "But.... how?" Scott paused, tugging on the sleeve of the other man- the blonde- and having a very frantic looking conversation with him, "Just hang on!" he insisted again, dissappearing beneath the balcony, Allison really wasn't sure what to make of the prince and all of his eccentricities but she sighed and waited anyway, if she could help him stay hidden from his own family for God only knows how long... she supposed she could wait on her balcony a little longer...

~+~

"It's really pretty simple compared to Melissa's story," John began, "Woah woah woah wait..... _Melissa?_ " Stiles grinned, John heaved a sigh, "Yes, Melissa and I are on a first name basis- at her request- don't make a big deal of it son," he groaned, Stiles just held up his hands in mock surrender, jabbing Derek in the ribs and grinning up at him, Derek didn't quite understand the excitement here but he was willing to go along with it, "I had gotten word that there was a pack in danger about a town away from our own," Laura began, "I went to investigate it but ofcourse there WAS no endangered pack, just alot of hunters waiting on their prey- me," "And I had heard the same thing, because I'm not a terrible person I went to see if maybe I could help and ... more or less was arrested for being a werewolf sympathizer," he sighed, "John and I became freinds during our imprisonment and when I was set free to be sent here I took him with me," Laura explained, "How exactly did that go anyway?" Stiles asked curiously, "Now isn't the time Stiles," Derek sighed, Stiles swallowed the urge to ask more but nodded his agreement, "Yeah.... yeah ok, you're right... how did the queen get here?" he asked, "Please just... just call me Melissa, I'm not entirely fond of being associated with the king right now," Stiles chuckled softly, sighing and looking down, "I see the family resemblance between you and your son," Melissa perked, eyes widening, "You... you know Scott? How is he? Is he ok?" "He's fine, he knows the truth now and he's with us, we've been helping him hide for the past few days," Stiles assured her, "But we can't promise how much longer we CAN hide him, as soon as the Royal Guard finds him- finds us- it'll all be over and the war will begin," "Our only chance is to confront them first," Stiles added, "So we should leave soon," Laura nodded slowly, "Soon, but not now, we're waiting for our- ... crap... Lydia!" Stiles groaned, shaking his head and glancing at Caitlin, who had been quiet this entire time and listening solemnly, "Caitlin I hate to do this to you but cou-" "I can find your mermaid freind and bring her back here," she smiled, Stiles breathed a sigh of releif, pressing a hand to his chest, "Thank you," he breathed sincerely, "No problem, I'll bring her back here then," she said, fluttering away, "So... how exactly did you end up here?" Derek asked quietly, pulling Stiles' attention away from watching the faery leave, "I found out about what my husband was doing... he's done a good job of keeping it from me all these years, speaking in code, sneaking away to secret meetings, always finding ways to keep me away from certain parts of the palace and the city and certain people... I've known for so long that something was wrong, I've kept investigating but.... only found out recently, when I confronted him and told him I was against it, told him that I would find a way to overthrow him, he locked me away... I should have seen that coming but... I knew that he could do that, I knew that he WOULD do that... I just didn't think he could or would do that to ME.... he was still compassionate enough, however, perhaps sentimental enough... to keep me alive, request that I be sent away, he didn't seem to specify where or double check who he was talking to, because when I was taken away, I ended up here," she explained, Stiles nodded slowly, biting his lip and sighing, "What a freaking mess," he muttered, "Miss Melissa? Do you know... what turned your husband against us so terribly? I remember my mom telling me that it wasn't always this way..." Derek asked softly, anxiety evident in his voice, Melissa stared at him sympathetically and reached out to take his hand, giving it a slight squeeze, "It wasn't always this way Sweetheart, when my father was the king everyone was treated equally in terms of the law, the hunters were seen as murderers and although that rarely stopped them... he protected magical beings as much as he protected humans, I married Rafeal because I thought he shared that mindset and at first he did, but.... it all changed after Scott was born, I'm afraid it's partly my fault, in order for Scott to be born, we had to-" she paused, staring over her shoulder wen Stiles jumped to his feet, glaring at the bushes as they moved, "At ease Son, it's nothing to worry about," John said with an air of relaxation to him, Stiles frowned, about to ask why he felt that way wen someone stepped out of the bushes, she had long dark waves of hair and beautifull dark skin, flawed only by the scars running across her throat, long and thick, "Don't worry Stiles," Laura said with a smile, getting up as well, "Braeden is our freind,"

~+~

"So this door is warded against anyone who isn't Peter.... wonderfull," Lydia sighed, staring at the door in the side of the tower and shaking her head, "I know, see? This is what I'm trying to say, only Peter can get in and out," Parrish explained, Lydia narrowed her eyes, taking a breath, "No... all magic has to have a loophole somewhere..." she muttered, pausing and staring upwards, "Parrish? What about that window up there?" she asked, staring at the top of the tower where a small window, barely enough to fit someone's head through, was formed, "It's much too small for anyone to get in or out of, but that's how Cora and I talk, that's how I get things to her," she nodded slowly, considering that, "And can she put anything OUT of the window?" "Oh yes, she let's her hair down all the time and I brush it for her," he smiled, "Her HAIR?" Lydia asked in shock, "Ah... yes... it's extremely long," he mused, Lydia grinned brightly and snapped her fingers, "That's it, that's how I get in! Parrish, I need you to call her to the window and let her hair down, then shapeshift, can you do that for me?" she asked urgently, Parrish nodded and cleared his throat as he stared up at the window, "Cora!! Cora!!! Let down your hair!!" he shouted, sure enough, a few moments later, a bundle of long chesnut locks tumbled down from the window, Lydia would hardly call it "extremely long", she had known Fae women who had hair that traveled two or three yards behind them, and this- if anything- was only a foot or so behind her, presuming that Cora was of average height, but it would do, a moment later Parrish was back to his dragon self and Lydia explained to him that she needed him to lift her towards the window, "I hope you don't mind a haircut Cora..." she sighed, staring at the frying pan she was still holding and taking her wand, waving it over the iron, "Into a blade," she demanded, the pan shaped it's self into a sharp dagger and Lydia gripped it tightly, holding a chunk of Cora's hair in her hand and slicing the blade right above it, holding a rather long bounty of hair, she nudged Parrish to set her down and quickly wrapped the chesnut locks around her hand and arm, taking a breath as she placed her hand on the door nob and turned, to her releif, the door opened and she suppressed a happy grin, "How did you do that?" Parrish asked in amazement, "The door wasn't warded against anyone who isn't PETER, it's warded against anyone who isn't a HALE," she explained, "I'll be back with her in a moment," "Wait, how do you intend to get her out?" Lydia smirked, starting into the tower, "Oh I'm sure I'll find a way,"

~+~

"Are you sure you can levitate this thing?" Scott asked worriedly as he stared at the carpet underneath him, "I can... I will.... thanks for asking," Issac grunted back, panting slightly as he lifted his hands, the carpet- wich had already been sprinkled with dust from Issac's Nightmare Horse- began to rise slowly but surely until Scott was face to face with Allison, "A magic carpet?" she breathed in amazement, Scott glanced at the carpet and then back at her, smiling sheepishly, "Um.... sort of?" he grinned, "I don't understand... what's going on here?" she asked with a deep frown, Scott took a deep breath, leaning forward on the carpet and running his hands through his hair nervously, "I actually... am not all that sure myself, Stiles went off.. um.. somewhere? To find Derek's lost sister, and he sent Issac- the blonde that was with me?- he sent him back- well wait.. he summoned him there and then sent him back saying that someone was trying to poisen you, that your food is poisened and not to let you eat it no matter what, but he wouldn't say anything more than that," Allison's frown only lightened slightly, now it was more sympathetic than concerned, "But... who would do that? The only person I can think of who has access to my food is the chef, Miss Morrell, you know her Scott, she's wonderfull," she said logically, "I know and I definately agree with you but... with all the supernatural stuff going on, and with you being a hunter... who's to say someone didn't get ahold of it in passing? Or maybe they fooled people into THINKING they were Morrell and the REAL Morrell is actually being held captive some place? We don't know... but I trust Stiles, and if he's so concerned that he would send Issac back the way he did.... Issac said he looked like an absolute WRECK, I can't just ignore that," Allison sighed softly, taking Scott's hand and running her fingers over the back of it, "Scott.. you say you trust him, but haven't you only known him for a couple of days? How can you already trust someone that much?" "I don't know, I can't explain it either but it's just... just a feeling I have.... please don't eat it Allison, please?" she looked down, nodding reluctantly and chuckling when Scott beamed up at her like a happy puppy, "Thanks, I'll make it up to you I swear!" "Don't worry about it, I'm too nervous to be hungry right now anyway," "Nervous? Why?" Scott asked in concern, Allison sighed, rubbing the back of her neck anxiously, "Well... do you have a minute?" Scott smiled brightly, "For you Allison, I have the entire night,"

~+~

"Braeden huh? It's nice to meet you, you must be pretty awesome if you have my dad's approval," Stiles noted as he held his hand out, the woman smiled, giving it a firm shake and causing him to cringe and make all sorts of animated pained expressions, "Thanks, I-" she paused, leaning closer and inhaling, "I recognize.... do you know Issac?" she asked quietly, "What? Yeah... actually yeah, um... it's a really long story.... how do YOU know Issac?" he asked suspiciously, Braeden looked down, biting her lip slightly, "Issac and I.... we were in love, our's is a long story too, he dissappeared from my life years ago before I became... this..." "A vampire?" Derek spoke up, she jerked her head up, squinting slightly but giving a tight nod of agreement, "Yes, before I became a vampire... I've been searching for him ever since, could you... can you tell me where he is?" Stiles smirked, crossing his arms over his chest, "I can do one better than that, I can take you right to him,"

~+~

"How did you get up here?" Admittedly, it wasn't the greeting Lydia had been expecting, the mermaid took a breath, crossing over to the werewolf slowly, "I used your hair to open the door... I hope you don't mind," she explained, Cora shook her head, "I don't... I never cared much for hair this long anyway," she shrugged, "Then it worked out for the better," Lydia confirmed, "Who are you exactly?" Cora asked suspiciously, "Lydia, I ... I know your brother Derek," it looked as if Cora had been rendered speechless with that, her mouth dropped open and her face visibly pale, "You... you know Derek? Is Derek here?" she asked urgently, "He is, he is, and Laura too-" "Laura...? Laura is here!?" "Yes yes but that's all something we have ample time to talk about, right now I need to figure out how to get you out of here, why is it that you can't get out? Is it a barrier or a ward or-" "There's no exit," she replied quickly and simply, Lydia scrunched up her face, "No exit?" she asked in confusion, Cora gave a tight nod, "See for yourself," Lydia turned around and sure enough, the door she had come through was gone, "There has to be an exit here SOMEWHERE," she huffed, "You would think," the werewolf shrugged back, Lydia rolled her eyes- she wasn't helping, clearing her throat, she pulled her wand forth and tapped it against the air, "Reveal exits," she demanded, smirking triumphantly when a trap door was revealed in the floor beneath a rug, "Ah see? We've got it," "It's not going to work~" Cora warned in a sing-song tone as Lydia leaned down and reached for the handle, but as soon as her fingers skimmed the door, it vanished- just like that, "How..?" "When it senses heat not belonging to Peter it moves, I've tried every trick in the book, even froze my hands with ice, but still nothing," she sighed, "Ugh, that just isn't RIGHT, all magic has a loophole SOMEWHERE!" she complained, "You would think," Cora shrugged again, Lydia felt the urge to slap herself in the face but resisted, biting her lip and looking around until she spotted a small pile of apples, "Something wrong with apples?" she asked, "They're Parrish's favorite, I give them to him when Peter brings them," she shrugged, Lydia nodded slowly, picking up three of them, "Mind if I borrow these?" "Nock yourself out," the werewolf replied, watching as Lydia held up one of the apples and waved her wand, "Into an ice block," she demanded, and within seconds, the apple had frozen into a small block of ice, Lydia took a breath, tossing it at the place in the floor where the door had moved to- nothing happened, she took the second apple, leaving it the way it was, and tossed it as well- still nothing, she took the third apple and waved her wand again, "Into a flame," she demanded, dropping it before it transformed and watching as the flame fell onto the trap door- and instantly, the door moved to the wall, Lydia grinned, snapping her fingers again, "I've got it," she hummed, "Do you though?" Cora asked suspiciously, "Yes, the door reacts to heat, so all we have to do is heat the entire tower so that it won't be able to move, if it's already hot all over, it won't notice our body heat," just as Cora was about to ask what she meant, the meaning of Lydia's words dawned on her, "Oh no..." she breathed, "Oh YES!" Lydia smirked, leaning out the window, "Parrish!! Set the tower on fire!" it took a moment for that to sink in before the dragon looked absolutely horrified, "What!? Why!? What are you thinking?!" "Just do it, PLEASE!" she shouted back, pulling Cora close and taking a breath, "Do you have any faery magic that could make us fire proof?" she asked, "Well... not exactly," she admitted, "WHAT!?" and just then the entire tower was set ablaze, the door moving in a variety of places before settling on the floor in front of them, flames licking the walls and starting to encroach closer towards the floor, "Open!" Lydia demanded as she flicked her wand, the door sprang open as commanded and the two ran towards it, jumping through without a second thought

~+~

"I'm really sorry to hear about that," Scott frowned, Allison shrugged, moving closer to him on the carpet and sighing, "It's.. alright I guess, everyone has issues with their family, even royalty apparently," Scott nodded, looking down, "Dad and I have never seen eye to eye on most things but... now that I know what he's doing, someone has to stop him, and I'm the prince- I'm his SON- it has to be me," "I agree," Allison nodded, he took a deep breath, exhaling through his nose and closing his eyes, "So why do I feel like I'm just a bit player in a much bigger game?" "Because that's how politics ARE, the higher you are in rank the less you actually DO, and that isn't really by choice... as a prince, or a king, you can't be the one to oversee one thing at a time, it has to be everything, the big picture, and when you have to see the big picture, you can't focus on any of the little details, you end up dealing with generals and ambassadors and even religious heads who all know more about what you're doing than you do, because they focus on the little details and hone in on those things and gang up on you to make you seem and feel useless," Scott frowned deeply, turning to Allison with a pinched expression, "Why.... how do you know all of this?" he asked worriedly, "Hunters aren't so unlike politicians, in a way we have our own monarchies," she explained solemnly, before Scott had the chance to ask her to expand on that they both heard a hum of "Allison~" approaching the room, "That's Kate!" the huntress said urgently, Scott helped her back onto the balcony and she tumbled in, rushing to her room, "Wait wait!" he called, she shook her head, jumping in the bed and making sure all of the lights were off as Scott flew below the balcony just in time for Kate to open the door and peer in, smiling softly to herself at Allison and turning her attention to the food on the table, "Huh..." she muttered to herself, grabbing the tray and heading out of the room, she shut the door behind her and once she started down the hall dipped her finger in the soup, humming as she tasted it and headed back to her own room


	16. True Love's Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, a shadow took over the body of a witch, and the only way to wake him from this curse, was through True Love's Kiss...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone comments on it, **It's intentional that parts of the upcoming arguments are hard/impossible to follow and you can't tell who's speaking** , because that's the way arguments ARE sometimes, as an onlooker or even as someone involved in one, if there are more than three people or so it can get almost impossible to tell who's saying what and I definately wanted that to come across the same way it's coming across to Stiles and Derek
> 
> Also, the entire thing was inspired yet again by a musical number, to get a slightly clearer image, you may want to check out "Your Fault" from Into The Woods https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWJM5YFXA7I

"I can't believe you did that! What were you thinking!?" Issac panted as he wipped the reins tighter on the Nightmare Horse, "I was thinking that I had to save Allison!" Scott insisted, "By removing your glamor!?" "YES! Can you think of any other way that she would have trusted me!?" Scott shouted, Issac took a deep breath, swallowing deeply as he forced the horse to go faster still, "Issac?" Scott asked worriedly, a quiet tone to his voice, "I'm fine," Issac panted out, "You don't seem fine," Scott observed, "I have to get you back to the foxhole before anyone can see you," he grunted back, "Issac... we're out of the city now, it's ok, you can slow down.." "No, I really can't, there are hunters everywhere, do you really think they won't be watching for you?" he panted out again, his body pouring sweat and his skin a sickly pale as he continued, "Issa-" "I'm fine," he insisted again, seeing the foxhole in sight and pulling the reins sharply, dismounting the horse gracelessly and absorbing the energy once the Nightmare Horse dissappeared, "C'mon," he muttered, feeling atleast an ounce better after absorbing the horse's energy as he moved the stone away from the hole and jumped down with Scott, landing painfully on his back and groaning in agony as Scott landed wobbly on his feet next to him, "Issac do you... do you need to feed on me?" Scott asked quietly, inching closer, Issac swallowed, looking away, "No, I don't feed on humans, I can't," "What? Why?" Scott frowned, "Humans are too fragile, it happened once before and.." "But you were new to it then! Issac you nee-" "Not from a human Scott, not from you," he replied instantly, "Well how about from me then?" he heard, looking up and watching Jackson cross towards him, tail slinking behind him and smirking slightly, "I never thought of you as being my type," he panted softly, "Yeah well, I'm everyone's type, even like this," Jackson shrugged back, Issac nodded, pushing himself up and stumbling forward as Jackson wrapped an arm around his back, "Don't go easy on me now," Jackson teased, Issac gave a half-hearted snort, "You wish..."

~+~

"You could always summon Issac here, don't you need to find out how the Allison thing went?" Derek proposed, Stiles licked his lips, nodding slowly, "Yeah... yeah I should probbably do that," he replied, taking a breath and standing up, "Issac!" he shouted, sure enough, a few moments later the Incubus appeared in front of them, collapsed in a heap and... underneath someone else... "Jackson!?" Danny shouted, the Kanima groaned, lifting himself up slowly and stumbling up to his feet, "How did you get here?" Stiles frowned, "I was in the middle of something," Jackson grumbled back, "And what would tha-" "Issac!!" they all paused, turning their attention back to Braeden as she rushed forward and helped Issac to his feet, "Issac are you ok?" she asked urgently, "Just fine... just my head darling..." he muttered, blinking and looking up suddenly, his breath stopping for a moment "Braeden..?" she smiled brightly and nodded, wrapping her arms around her as he hugged her tightly, "Braeden I.... I.... how? I don't understand..." "It's a long story, we'll explain it later," she promised, "Issac, is Allison ok? What about Scott? Is he-" "They're fine, both fine I promise," Issac said quickly, leaning back and taking Braeden's hands quickly, "Braeden... you and I have alot of catching up to do,"

~+~

"The campfire isn't much further away," Caitlin said urgently as she flew straight forward, towards the familiar grouping of trees that she had just passed through twice before, "Define 'much further'," Cora panted as Lydia and Parrish tried to help her keep up, "Aren't werewolves supposed to be faster than dragons? You know, traditionally?" Parrish asked in confusion, "Not when said werewolves have been locked in a tower for almost seven years," Cora groaned back, "It's been that long?" Lydia breathed, "I don't know for sure but I've tried to keep track of the moon cycles and if I'm right it should be around then, time doesn't move in Neverland... but the moon still does," she explained, Lydia nodded slowly, sighing as they got nearer and nearer to the campfire, "I just don't understand, even for Peter... how could your own uncle lock you away like that for seven years? Why would he do that?" she muttered to herself, "Because young Cora here has something that belongs to me," at the sound of the voice the three turned on their heels and stared at Peter, who seemed to be rather calmly sitting under a tree waiting on them, "I don't have anything of your's," Cora spat, Lydia jumped in front of her protectively, narrowing her eyes, "Leave us alone Peter," she snarled, Peter chuckled, rising to his feet slowly, "Now why on earth would I do that? You're welcome to keep my neice, Little Mermaid, all I require is the little gem she's keeping from me," "Gem? What gem?" Lydia hissed as Parrish stepped in front of them both, "Well not LITERALLY a gem... but it may as well be one, the most valuable gem of them all," "Well the vagueness is nice but I'm afraid we're going to have to skip it for today," the sound of the new voice jerked Peter's attention away and he smirked as Derek waltzed casually out of the woods, "Ah Nephew, nice to see you again, if Laura was here we'd have ourselves a real family reunion," he hummed, "Cut the crap Peter, did I hear right? You kept my sister in a TOWER for SEVEN YEARS!? Your own NEICE!?" Derek shouted, "To be fair I never would have had to do that if she'd just give me what she took," "I didn't take anything!" Cora shouted from behind Lydia, "Oh Cora... you know we can all hear you lieing, tell her Derek, how her heart jumps when she lies," Peter purred, Derek snarled, allowing his features to shift into their wolf state as he roared at him, "Don't let him rile you up Derek, don't give him the satisfaction," Laura warned as she stepped out next to him, "Laura! Now isn't this nice? All of the Hales together at last.... now if Cora would just give me what's mine, we can all go home and be happy," he chuckled, "Cora isn't giving you anything," Lydia snarled, Peter turned his attention to her, eyes narrowing, "This doesn't involve you, Lit-" he paused, the palm of Lydia's hand slamming into his cheek with force as he flinched backwards, "Stop. Calling me. LITTLE MERMAID!" she screamed, her body racked with shakes as Parrish quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulders, trying to steady her, "I'm going to ignore that, for your sake," Peter snarled, turning back to Cora, "Cora, just give me the bean, and then we can all go home," "Bean? What bean?" Stiles asked as he stepped closer, the rest of the group already starting to gather behind them, "The jumping bean, what bean do you THINK? The magic bean, the _special_ bean, I let it go, I didn't know she'd stolen my bean," he snarled, "What is he talking about?" Laura asked quietly, glancing over to her little sister, "A magic bean? You have one?" Danny asked breathlessly, "HAD one, yes, but seven years ago she took it, she hid it, and she hasn't told me where," "That's because this is ALL because of that stupid bean! All of this, the fire, the death, the war... it's all because of that magic bean and no one needs to know where it is!" she shouted, "Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Stiles hissed, Cora took a deep breath, lowering her head and crossing her arms over her chest, "I'll tell you," she said quietly, "Cora don't!" Peter shouted, "No! It's too late for that!" "You don't know what yo-" "I DO know what I'm doing Uncle Peter! I warned you to stay away from the beans, I warned you but you wouldn't listen to me! Now you have to...." she paused and turned to Derek, eyes starting to swell with tears, "Derek.. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... the fire ...... the fire was partly my fault," Stiles glanced up at Derek, inhaling when he saw how pale the werewolf turned, "What.... why.... why would you say that...?" he gasped, "Because it's true, I just... I didn't know what was happening at the time Derek! I had no idea..." "What happened Cora? Please... please tell us what happened..." she nodded, letting out a choked sob as tears started rolling down her cheeks, turning her back to everyone and beginning to walk towards the shoreline, "Once upon a time...."

_I was so young when it happened that I didn't really understand what was going on... I was out in the woods fishing when I heard something strange, I ran towards it out of morbid curiosity and saw this ... enormous plant growing out of the ground, going all the way up into the clouds, when I stared at it a bit closer I saw Peter climbing up what I later discovered to be a beanstalk, at the time I was completely unsuspecting of what was going to happen and I stayed until Uncle Peter came down again, I told Mom later that I had caught alot of fish- wich was true, to be fair- I'm not completely sure why I waited for Peter to come back down, but I was always the youngest, always the smallest, always the one to be kept out of the loop... and at the time I just wanted a secret of my own, I thought that the beanstalk and Peter could be that secret, but I was wrong... when Peter came down from the beanstalk he was carrying a huge bag over his shoulders and it reeked of the scent of gold, I realized later that night when Mom sent Laura to the market that the gold had been for us, I knew we had been struggling, the hunters were growing more and more relentless and we were becoming more and more hidden away, hardly able to make money and having to hunt and fish for most of our food, Peter seemed to be helping us and... I didn't know at the time that it was stolen, but I could have guessed, I don't think anyone else knew, the beans and the stalks that grew out of them all seem to be very strange in that they're scentless, as are anything that comes from the sky it seemed, I could make out the base scents, the smells of leather and gold, but that was all, nothing plant-like from the beanstalk or any scent from the people in the sky, it was my lack of understanding that kept me going back to watch him the second time, that time I wasn't alone in watching him though, I remember not long after he dissappeared into the clouds I looked over to see a blonde woman several yards away watching as well, but she didn't notice me, she left shortly after but I didn't, I stayed again, and this time he came down the beanstalk with something that seemed much like a hen, yet it maintained the rich smell of gold, I never saw that hen a second time, the third time was simalar, he came down with a harp that also reeked of gold and I never saw the harp again either, but the third time something changed, one of the beans I had seen him plant so many times fell from his pocket, and I rushed to collect it, I had foolishly hoped back then that maybe I could go to the place in the sky that Uncle Peter always went to, that I could help my family the way he did, at first he didn't seem to notice the bean was gone, but later that night I woke up to a burning house, at first I thought it might be the people in the sky who Uncle Peter had upset- I knew he rubbed people the wrong way, he always did- but as I climbed out my window I saw the familiar wave of blonde hair dissappear into the forest, I realized that it was the blonde who had seen Uncle Peter weeks earlier, and it occurred to me that weather it was the blonde or the people in the sky it didn't matter, the bean was trouble, and I.. I didn't want MORE trouble, so I ran into the woods and buried it where no one would be able to find it, I hoped that it might still help my family to get rid of the bean, or at the very least, I hoped it would help spare another, at ten years old I knew so little about the way magic worked... or the way BLAME worked... but still I blamed the bean, and still I hoped, I prayed to the Goddess, atleast spare another family in the future from this same mistake...._

There was silence, everyone standing still by the edge of the woods, "All of this... all of this is your fault," Laura breathed, turning and glaring at Peter, "Kate never would have even MET Derek if it wasn't for you... she saw the beanstalk, knew you knew about magic and went after your nephew... this is all your fault! Our family is gone because of you!" she shouted, "Hardly, do you really think she wouldn't have found a way into our little inner circle anyway? Found a way to trick Derek anyway?" he sighed, "You leave my baby brother OUT of this! For YEARS he's tormented himself thinking it was his fault! I had to unwrap a noose from his neck because of you! All this time, all this suffering, it's all been because of YOU!" she screamed, "And what were we to do Laura? Continue living like animals? Like our ancestors before us because some human with a band of gold around his head said we should?" he sneered back, "You could have stopped at the first time, we had more than enough!" "We were needy-" "You were greedy! Did you need that hen!? And what about the harp in the third place!?" "The harp yes.." Parrish muttered to himself, "I don't need to explain myself to you," "I think you do, no as a matter of fact I KNOW you do! You owe us ATLEAST that much! What was it Peter? What was it that cost us everything that you couldn't seem to let go of!?" she screamed, "Wait a minute... it was you!" Jackson shouted suddenly, stepping closer, "You're the one from all those years ago who gave me the bean!" he snarled, "What? You had one too?" Lydia asked in surprise, "Yeah, now that I think about it... it's from when he was younger, he was a teenager back then, he traded me a bean for some land," "Land... that must be where our house was built," Laura muttered, "You're the cause of this! You ruined my face! You ruined my life!" he shouted, "Wait what?" Parrish asked in confusion, "I thought the bean was something to boast about back then... I was so stupid and ended up trying to pay an alchemist with it to enhance my strength so that I could be a soldier, when he attempted it, THIS is what happened!" he screamed, pointing to the layers of scales running down half of his face, "So it wasn't a curse at all, it was alchemy..." Danny said quietly, "I hid away for ELEVEN YEARS because of this! I was hunted like a monster! I BECAME a monster! And it's all because of you!" "On the contrary, it sounds to me like that one was YOUR fault, who boasts about a magic bean? You were asking for trouble!" "You should have warned me of what this bean would cause!" "Who sells their land for a magic bean? You really can't blame me for your naivity and your eagerness to find a shortcut for the best things in life, it's your fault as much as it is mine," "How is it his fault!? Jackson never even planted the bean, he gave it to me!" Danny shouted, "So it's your fault then?" "No! I planted that bean to break Jackson's curse, wich was placed on him because of YOU!" "You're the one who took the beans out of Neverland to begin with, those beans are here for a reason! It's all your fault!" Lydia added in quickly, "Everyone.... SHUT UP!" Stiles shouted suddenly, drawing everyone's attention towards him as he and Derek stood completely still, a few feet away from them and nearer to the shore than where the others were, exchanging glances, they started to shuffle out, staring up in the direction that Stiles and Derek were staring in, "Oh no..." Danny breathed, there, half in the sea and half on the beach, was their ship... completely, and utterly wrecked....

~+~

"Are you starting to see now Tinkerbell? I warned you that Pan would do everything in his power to keep them here but you wouldn't listen," Vidia hissed, keeping a hold on Caitlin's wrist as she stared listlessly forward at the rest of them, "He's going to ..... but.... are you su-" "It's obvious, he's found his new host, and you have only yourself to blame,"

~+~

"Who did this?" Lydia breathed as she stared at the wrecked ship, "Well it was obviously Pan," Peter answered with a shrug, "Do you think you could possibly care ANY less?" Jackson snapped, "Don't start with me Scaley, Pan is a trickster spirit, it's his MO-" "Don't start in on what YOU caused!" Jackson growled, "It's hardly my fault that you stupidly got yourself experimented on," Peter shrugged, "It wasn't as if it were his will!" Danny snapped, "Wait a minute! PAN did this? The same Pan that you've SIDED with all this time?" Lydia pointed out, "You sided with Pan!?" Laura shouted, "I've been in a tower for seven years and even I know how stupid that is!" Cora huffed, "This is the same Pan you took the beans from isn't it?" Parrish asked slowly, "Why is all of the blame suddenly on me? Daniel here is just as involved as I am," he hummed, "So it's his fault as well then!" "No!" Danny shouted, "Yes it is! You should have never sided with Pan! You should have never sided with Peter or with evil or gone up that beanstalk! You should have never committed Tourner Dans Le Vide in the first place!" Lydia shouted, "So this is all his fault!" Cora screamed, "Wait a minute! If Peter had kept the beans here in Neverland your family never would have burned to death!" "I never would have been forced to provide for my family through stealing if you hadn't turned back and raised the ire of the king in the first place!" "Then why aren't we blaming the hunters!? If my love hadn't been killed by the hunters then I never would have turned dark!" "And the hunters are controlled by the king," "So it's his fault!" "Yes!" "It's his fault!" "No! The king wasn't even in power back then!" Laura exclaimed, "He would have been though and they're all the same!" "All humans are not the same," Parrish protested, "Yes they are! It's all their fault! Killing Danny's lover, setting our house on fire, hunting my DEAR nephew, even ending up on this island, it's all their fault!" "Yes you're right," "No he isn't! Don't side with him!" "Well perhaps if our dear Alpha Laura had been strong enough not to get herself kidnapped we wouldn't even be in this mess," "ME!? Are you really trying to blame this on ME!? I am HARDLY at guilt!" "Yes it's her fault!" "No!" "It's his fault then!" "Yes it's his fault!" "We are on this island because of Laura-" "Because of Peter-" "Because of Danny-" "Because of humans!" "It's YOUR fault!" Derek shook his head, his hands covering his ears as he slinked away from the arguing mess of people, he couldn't even distinguish one voice from the others anymore, he took a deep breath, how his sisters- as other werewolves- could stand this was far beyond him but it was making him a nervous wreck... "Stiles?" he groaned slightly, glancing down and seeing Stiles crouching down in front of him, "Stiles?" he repeated, "Go.... away... Derek...." he panted, Derek swallowed and resisted the compulsion to take that personally, "Why? What's wrong?" he asked, "Go ... away...." "But-" "Go!" he shouted, a burst of energy shooting from his back as he suddenly screamed and fell to the ground completely, holding his head and writhing desperately, "L-L... LYDIA!!" Derek shouted, running back into the ruckus in an attempt to pull the mermaid out of it all, but it wasn't working, there were too many voices screaming over eachother and too many emotions running on high to get through to anyone, finally, as a last resort, Derek inhaled and let out an ear-peircing howl, forcing everyone to cover their ears and stop speaking, all looking at him as if he was a lunatic, "Lydia!" he shouted again, grabbing her arm and tugging her closer, she turned, staring at Stiles and forgetting everything about playing the blame game, "Stiles!?" she shouted, rushing to his side, "What's happening to him?" Derek breathed, Lydia shook her head, falling to her nees beside him and shaking him desperately, "Stiles? Stiles wake up!" he was gasping now, heaving for air but not seeming to breathe, "...-ut..... out...." he panted, "What?" Lydia breathed, "Get.... out...... get out! Get out get out get out get out get OUT!!" he screamed, hands clutching his hair as he spazzmed on the ground, "Get out of my head!! Get OUT OF MY HEAD!!" he screamed desperately, "Stiles-!" John shouted, making an attempt to run to him, only for Laura to hold him back, shaking her head knowingly, "It's Pan...." Danny breathed, Lydia wipped around to look at him as the sorcerer stepped forward, "Pan is trying to possess him, he's trying to resist and ... it isn't going well, he's trying to fight him off, Pan is a spirit older than I even know of and Stiles is trying to hold him off all on his own," he explained, "How do we help him!?" Derek screamed, Danny swallowed and shook his head, "I'm not sure... he needs an anchor," he replied, Stiles gasped suddenly, his eyes flickering black for a moment as he grinned sadistically and sat up, "What's that you were saying about an anchor Dearie?" he purred smoothly, before anyone could react Lydia's palm made contact with his cheek and a harsh sting radiated through his skin, "Lydia... that probbably wasn't smart...." Cora hissed, the mermaid cringed, "It... it was an impulse..." she squeaked, Pan stared at her, a menacing expression on his face, "Oh.... big mistake," he growled out, making a move as if he was going to lunge towards her only to stop suddenly, body contorting in a painfull looking shape as he gasped again, falling back to the ground, "No... no no no no no no!!" he begged, a bloody, murderous scream tearing through his body as if it was being physically ripped out of him, "He needs an anchor!" Danny repeated, "An anchor.. anchor.... a kiss! True love's kiss! It works on everything else!" Lydia insisted, "Yeah, in FAIRYTALES," Jackson snarled, Lydia swallowed and flinched back, knowing that was directed at her, "It has to be better than doing NOTHING!" she screamed, "So who's his true love?" John asked slowly, "Three guesses," Issac snorted, nudging his head towards Derek, Braeden seemed to frown up at him but he just shrugged back, "Incubi notice these things," he hummed, "Ofcourse... Derek... that makes perfect sense," Lydia breathed, "Derek! Kiss him!" she shouted, Derek blinked, mind stuttering, "But... but we're not- I mean... Stiles wo-" "He's in love with you! You're in love with him! It's like a beautifull fairytale now KISS him before he can't hold on any longer!" she pleaded desperately, "You DON'T want to meet Pan when he's in a body," Danny added, Derek cursed, heart hammering in his chest as he crossed over to Stiles, who was still on the ground but different now, his body shaking and convulsing as he tried over and over again to dig his hands and heels into the sand, eyes flickering between brown and black dangerously as he gasped for air, "I don't think I'm his true love, I don't think it-" "Self esteem issues later Derek, just do it!" Lydia shouted, taking a breath, Derek leaned down, trying his best to hold Stiles still and placing his lips over the witch's in a rough, desperate kiss, he fell backwards suddenly as Stiles sat up and gasped, a black smoke shooting out from his mouth as it swarmed away and into the sky, dissappearing over the trees, before anyone could say or do anything Stiles collapsed back to the ground, completely unconscious

After a few minutes had passed without Stiles waking the others decided it would probbably be best to go ahead and figure out how to fix the ship so they could leave as soon as possible rather than risk the return of Pan, "Potentially, I could repair the ship, but ... not on my own," Danny sighed, "What exactly do you mean 'not on your own'?" Laura asked tiredly, "I've been in that cage for too long, at this point my more powerfull magic- anything more than a simple flick of the wrist really- requires... what you could call a sacrifice, someone has to make a wish," "So now you're a genie then?" Cora snorted, "Not quite, it's a long story, the point is that someone needs to wish for me to repair the ship for me to actually be able to do so, and as you may have noticed, my wishes can often have ... unexpected consequences," "I neither believe that the consequences are unexpected nor that you feel even a bit bad about it," Lydia hummed, "Well then, can YOU fix the ship?" he asked, "I could... if I had more Pixie Dust, my own energy is running too low to do it all myself but with Pixie Dust I could give it the boost I need... does anyone know where Caitlin went?" she asked, starting to look around as she finally noticed the absence of the faery, "Not a clue, but we can't wait any longer than we absolutely have to," Danny sighed, "I'll do it," Jackson said suddenly, "What?" Danny breathed, "I said I'll make the wish, really, what's the worst that can happen? Turning into a full kanima? Atleast it would be better than always being half right?" Danny narrowed his eyes and shook his head, "No, you're not doing this, we have no idea what kind of effect it could have on you and I'm not risking that," "It isn't your's to risk," Jackson protested, "We'll find another way!" "Why don't **I** do it?" Derek finally suggested, there was a pause, "We don't know what this could do to you," Danny said slowly, Derek sighed, "I know, but does anyone else have any agreeable options?" "Derek-" "No Laura, stay out of this," the silence was so thick it was almost deafening, "Well?" Danny inhaled, looking down, "Well... let's wait for Stiles to wake up, perhaps with his help the two of us can fix the ship without needing a wish to do it," "Why the sudden change of heart?" John frowned, Danny shrugged, "I just don't think we can afford any unnecessary sacrifices right now...."


	17. Giants In The Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time Stiles found himself plagued with visions and words, things that would torture him until he couldn't breathe...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was around this point that I realized this fic really never would end
> 
> Also Danny's outburst is in large part found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItcPSiyz-PY

_Teeth...._

_Blood...._

_Screaming...._

_Scott..._

_Scott...._

_Scott....._

_ScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScottScott_

_Blood_

_Blood_

_Blood_

_Screaming_

_Tears_

_Teeth_

_Teeth_

_Tears_

_Screaming_

_Scott_

_Blood_

_Scott_

_Screaming_

_Bleeding_

_Teeth_

_Biting_

_Screaming_

_Bitten_

_Scott_

Stiles gasped and lurched forward when he finally came to, looking around in a panic and running his hand down his face, "Stiles? Stiles are you ok?" Derek asked worriedly as stared down at him, Stiles swallowed and nodded slowly, "Yeah... yeah I think so, I'm alright," he muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly, "What happened?" he frowned slightly, Stiles swallowed, shaking his head slowly, "I ... I don't know..." he muttered, "God my head is so full... it's so full it hurts..." he muttered, gripping at his hair, Derek's jaw tensed and he squeezed Stiles' hand, "It's alright, just try to breathe," he encouraged, Stiles shook his head, "No... no we're wasting time, there's so much... you guys have to no..." "We have to know what?" Laura frowned, "The ship... it isn't actually wrecked," there was tense silence all around, "Pan is using an illusion, it's not really wrecked, he just tricked us into thinking it was," "If that's the case, Pixie Dust should reveal it," Lydia said quietly, "Well then, by all means, let's go test the theory, if your magic powder doesn't work I'll give it a zap and see if mine will," Danny suggested, Lydia nodded her agreement, "Alright, let's go," she insisted, taking off in a sprint towards the boat with everyone else behind her, "You alright Kiddo?" John asked worriedly as he turned and started towards Stiles, "I'm fine Dad, really, just kinda light headed, go on with the others ok? I just need to get up and get used to gravity again," he insisted, his father hesitated but ultimately turned and headed back to the others, Stiles and Derek glanced at eachother, staying quiet for a tense moment, "So... true love huh?" Derek blushed, trying not to flinch, "You heard that huh? How much did you .. hear?" Stiles shrugged, rubbing his hands together, "Everything and nothing, I technically heard everything but couldn't really acknowledge anything or do anything about it..." "Right," he nodded, looking at the ground, "Hey... don't look away, this is a GOOD thing, I'm in love with you, you're in love with me, and this is the best thing that's happened to either of us in... God... who knows how long, finally something GOOD happened, and we know... we know that there are no mistakes here, true love is true love, right?" Derek nodded, glancing at him and smiling slightly, "Right," "Ok, then I think all of this deserves ATLEAST another kiss- one where I can kiss back, what do you think?" he proposed, Derek nodded, leaning closer and closing his eyes as he placed his lips over Stiles', the witch wrapped his arms around Derek's neck, pulling him closer and kissing him deeper, causing the werewolf to wrap his arms around his back and hold him in place as the kiss continued, lasting another few moments before Derek finally pulled away, "We should find the others," he said quietly, Stiles frowned, placing a hand on his cheek to steady him, "Hey, look at me, we're gonna be ok alright? You and me, together, we're good, right? We're good?" Derek nodded his head a few times before realizing that Stiles wanted verbal confirmation and took a breath, "Y-Yeah... yeah we're good," he promised, Stiles smiled, bracing himself on Derek's shoulders as he stood up, "Good... _now_ we can find the others, I have something else to tell them anyway..."

"Look who finally showed up to the party," Peter smirked as Derek and Stiles rounded the corner towards the ship, "Shut up Peter, we still don't like you," Stiles snapped, "Atleast it looks like you were right, it WAS an illusion," Danny mused as he stepped back and stared at the ship, "Pan was probbably trying to keep us here, it's .. sort of his end goal for every single thing he does," Lydia sighed, "Yeah well, right now we have bigger problems," Stiles noted, "Why? What kind of problems?" Issac frowned, Stiles took a breath, starting to fidget, "I think I had a vision," he finally said, "Vision? What kind of vision?" Lydia asked quickly, Stiles took in a shaking breath, his entire body heaving with the air as he exhaled, "Scott... a werewolf is gonna bite Scott, I couldn't see the details but I think.. I think it's gonna happen during the.... when his dad tries to take him back, I just know that there's screaming and blood and... and I KNOW that's what happens, I can't grasp the details but I know that someone is gonna bite Scott... I can just feel it, I felt it more than I've ever felt anything before, like it's just so strong and so clear..." he sighed, Lydia gasped softly and placed her hands over her mouth, "You have The Sight..." she breathed, "'The Sight'? What in the name of Hell is 'The Sight'!?" John groaned in frustration, first his son is a witch, ok, fine, lots of people had children who were connected to the other world, THEN his son was possessed by an evil spirit-shadow-thing, not exactly normal but the werewolf seemed to expel said evil spirit-shadow-thing so nothing to worry about right? But now he has some kind of "sight"? He was beginning to wonder where this would end.... "The Sight... also called the gift of Prophecy or Clairvoyance, premonitions, precognition... you can call it whatever you'd like, it's being able to- for lack of a better term- see the future, but it's much more than that," "Why would he suddenly get this... 'Sight'?" Melissa asked worriedly, "Because his Third Eye has started to open," upon seeing the confused looks on the human faces she sighed, deciding to continue, "ALL creatures have a place in the center of their forehead that's connected to intuition and magic, it connects to your soul rather than your body, the Ajna Chakra, some call it, but it's better known as your Third Eye, because it can 'see' things that your other two eyes cannot see, most people are born with their Third Eye closed, though some lucky few are born with it open, for most however it stays closed their entire lives.... then there are cases like Stiles, where a traumatic event forces the eye to open," "Why? What would cause Stiles' Third Eye to open now?" Cora asked with a frown, her parents had died when she was still so young that much of even the magical world was a mystery, she was almost as lost as the humans, "My guess is that it was draining Stiles too much, trying to fight against Pan and force him out, the stress forced his Third Eye open so that he could have enough power to stave it off," "Power... then it isn't just visions?" John frowned, "Not at all, ofcourse this isn't always the case, some who have The Sight have ONLY The Sight, some have more than that, some have more of a feeling rather than a seeing, there are many variations, but because Stiles is a witch, he definately has much more than just The Sight," she explained, turning to the witch and smiling brightly, "Stiles, this is amazing! This is a GIFT! Why are you not more excited about this!?" she breathed, "I don't know Lyds, I kind of LIKED having some privacy _in my own head_ ," he huffed back, she rolled her eyes, taking his hands, "Stiles you know what a big deal this is! We could win this now! We could truly, _win_ this war, come out of it with our HEADS still attached! You have the gift of Prophecy and who knows what else! Stiles... you could _Ascend_! If we have an Ascended on our side we'll win for sure!" she breathed, "Alright alright.... hold on, a little explaining for the poor humans here huh?" John frowned, Lydia took a breath, giving a tight nod of agreement, "The Third Eye opening is most common in humans, it's considerably rarer among magic folk but out of all our kinds witches, elves, and faeries have it the most, but they're nearly always born with it, the Third Eye opening by trauma is extremely rare for a witch," she began, "Stiles could be our answer to not _dieing_ here, by being able to predict the enemy's movements... not to mention his magic is enhanced by this, he could do certain things more naturally, without spells, I'm not sure the extent of it yet but it could have some very important effects," "Right... and what's all this about Ascension?" Melissa asked, "Ascension is what happens when you go through a ritual to open your Third Eye completely, it has... effects," Stiles sighed, running his fingers through his hair, "Effects like what?" John frowned, "Like... I probbably won't ever have privacy again kinda effects, I'll be opening myself up as a Channel for spirits and messages from the Divine, on it's own not so bad but it can be.. tedious..." "Not to mention Ascendeds are extremely hard to come by, not many people want to take the final step and even then some of them just can't, people are always seeking them out for help," Lydia added, "It doesn't sound all that grand," John commented, "No, but it might be our only chance," Danny added, "I'll do what I do best and play Devil's Advocate here, if you DON'T Ascend, how good are our chances of winning REALLY? How good are the chances that we'll all die in a matter of days?" Stiles looked down, chewing on his lower lip, "Lydia... do you really think I could Ascend? I mean... wouldn't I have to go to-" "Yes, you would, but... I think you could do it Stiles, and I think you could be good at it too," he closed his eyes, nodding slowly, "Alright then.... alright, if we can find a way to get there... if they'll let us in, then I'll do it," he nodded, "Where is it exactly that you need to go Son?" Stiles took a deep breath, turning towards the ship, "Avalon,"

~+~

"Do you really think we could get into Avalon?" Stiles asked as he stared over the edge of the ship, "Why wouldn't we be able to?" Derek asked with a frown, "Well because generally men aren't exactly _appreciated_ in Avalon, I don't know if they'd be willing to let a man go through the ritual, most male Ascendeds get trained elsewhere but I have no idea where," he sighed, "You'll be fine Stiles, trust me," Lydia encouraged, he nodded slowly, glancing at her, "You're coming with me you know," he mused, "What?" she breathed, glancing back at him, "Oh don't give me that, I know how much you've always wanted to go to Avalon, I'm taking you with me," Lydia smiled softly, staring down at the sea, "Stiles... I-" "Don't worry about thanking me," he grinned, turning to Derek and raising his eyebrows, "Der, you're gonna be with us too right?" Derek nodded slowly in agreement, "Yeah, I'll be with you," "Ok... ok good," he breathed, running his hands through his hair and swallowing, "I guess we'll go as soon as we make sure Scott's ok, we've gotta do something, assign him like.. a body guard or something," he added, "Oh please," Danny huffed as he approached the trio, "Stiles, we have NO idea how long it will be before this war begins, it could be in a few days or a few HOURS or something in between... we don't have time to screw around and getting to Avalon is going to be a difficult enough task, we need to be focused on that, not on Little Red Riding Prince becoming the Big Bad Wolf," Stiles narrowed his eyes, glaring sharply at Danny, "Scott is my FREIND, we're going to make sure he's ok first and foremost and when I get back from the ritual I'll be guarding him PERSONALLY," Danny stared at him as if disgusted, "You're so _nice_ , you're not good, you're not bad, you're just _nice_ ," he spat, shrugging haughtily, "I'm not good, I'm not nice, I'm just RIGHT, you don't care though do you? You don't care about what's RIGHT, you just care about making sure your posse lives to see the next day- not taking in the FULL picture, don't you see what a terrible philosophy that is to live by? But then, don't bother listening to ME, who am I after all? Just a witch, a dark witch, I'm the hitch, I'm what no one believes, I'm the witch, why would you care what a DARK witch has to say?" he snarled, "This isn't about light and dark! This is about living! This is about freedom! We NEED Scott to get through this, we need him to take the throne when his father is gone so he can help us, so we aren't going through this again in a few months! If he turns into a werewolf he'll just be AGAINST us," Stiles huffed, "Help us?" Danny said with a breathless, humorless laugh, "HELP us!? Darling no prince or king or queen could ever HELP us- WOULD ever help us! Humans are all the same! It doesn't matter if they're hunters or kings or peasants, they're all liars and theives like his father! Like his son will be too! Oh why bother? You won't listen to me, you'll just do what you do no matter what I have to say about it," he hissed, turning and making his way to the other side of the ship, Stiles groaned, glancing at Lydia and Derek and frowning when he realized that they were both staring at him expectingly, "Oh FINE," he grumbled, huffing off as he followed behind the other witch

"So... a vampire," Issac mused awkwardly as he leaned against the wall of the boat, "And you're an incubus," Braeden replied with a small nod, "Yeah... for the record, I'm sor-" "Please Issac, don't," she said immediately, "I don't want to hear an apology, I .. I'm not going to say it never upset me, but I can understand why you left, if I was in your position I would have too," she said softly, staring down at the water, Issac nodded slowly, staring up at the sky, "So, how did it happen?" "The vampirism? I went out looking for you after that night, traveled alot, I was passing through a particularly distant kingdom and was attacked, I don't think the person who bit me intended for me to be turned, I think he intended for it to kill me but... obviously here I am," she added, "And the scratches?" she smiled sadly, giving a small shrug, "Werewolf, happened before the vampire even had me as a thought," she shrugged, Issac sighed, nodding slowly, "I'm sorry to hear that... but more importantly I'm sorry that I let that happen.. I really... I should have been there, I should have stopped it.." "Issac, it isn't something you have control over, not everything revolves around you, it doesn't matter if you had been there or not... fate is fate," Issac smiled slightly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "And now fate has brought me back to you,"

"Well THAT was an ugly little display," Stiles hummed with a cocky grin as he dropped down next to Danny on the opposite side of the ship, "Go away Stiles," he groaned, "Nope, not when I think I've finally got you figured out," Stiles shrugged, "What's to figure out? I hate humans and want to see them all destroyed, I'm a dark witch who just wants to be out of my prison, what's to figure out?" Stiles snorted, leaning back and shaking his head, "You like to boast that image because it's all you've got but how much of it is who you really are? How much of that is true?" he questioned, "Why do you CARE?" Danny snapped, "I don't, not really, but you're involved with all of this so I have to atleast know what's going on right? I think I've got what I need to know," "And what would that be?" Danny huffed, "That you aren't actually evil, you're doing all of this out of the same reason that I _started_ all of this... you're doing it for _*~true love~*_ aren't you?" he smirked, "You're delusional," Danny sighed as he leaned back and closed his eyes, "Am I? You're really trying to tell me that all of this isn't for Jackson?" Danny flinched, jaw twitching, "What exactly do you THINK you know?" he asked slowly, Stiles took a breath, tilting his head against the side of the ship as he stared up at the dark night sky, "Well, I think that once upon a time you fell in love with Jackson, but you realized- ofcourse- that you couldn't love him, REALLY love him, if you were still in the darkness, you knew you had to bring back your light magic somehow if you were going to be the lover that Jackson needed, that he deserved- how sweet, there was just one problem with this master plan of your's though, no one knows how to get rid of Tourner Dans Le Vide, atleast... no one around HERE, I'm not a traveler but I do know that much, one of the only places that knows how to bring someone back to the light is the Giants in the Sky, witches who go dark... they don't usually want to go back, so I've heard, and the ones who do just work on ~self redemption~ or something like that, you know, still TECHNICALLY dark but slapping on smiles and saving puppies until they start to feel a little redemption, even if it doesn't do much for them they feel better enough to allow themselves to be in a relationship, but that isn't what you want, you want a quick fix, a CURE, something that will erase the darkness from you instead of warming it back into the light, the thing is that the Giants in the Sky are one of the only ones who even MIGHT know how to bring you out of the dark, they did it themselves with an entire generation, so you found a magic bean and went to talk to them wile Jackson probbably terrorized the population, they told you what to do and either you COULDN'T do it, or you TRIED to do it and it didn't work, but either way you're SOL now and are trying to get back to them so you can get better instructions, that's why you joined Peter's rag-tag group of baddies, so that you had some hope of getting back to Neverland and getting more magic beans, problem is that apparently Neverland has hidden them or ... God I don't know, SOMETHING, I have no idea how Neverland works... anyway your plan flopped, now you're trying to come up with a new one, and I'm not really sure HOW or what you think you're doing but it doesn't seem to be working out for the better," Danny swallowed, looking down, "Danny, look.... all of the terrible things you've done in the past? Not excused, definately, but atleast... you're not like completely evil or something, so why don't you tell me what's going on and I'll tell you if I can help?" he suggested, "You can't help," "Really? Then tell me why you were so interested in my power, tell me why you let Derek off the hook instead of letting him be your sacrificial lamb earlier, don't pretend that you didn't, I heard everything you know," Danny rolled his eye, glancing at Stiles again, "You really want to know huh?" "Yeah, pretty much," "Then I guess I should start at the beginning,"

_Once upon a time, a very long time ago, I met Jackson, it was after the .. incident that turned him into what he is, he had run blindly into my cave not knowing anyone was there and when I met him and wasn't afraid he stuck around, when he found out I was a witch he hoped that I could reverse what had happened to him and bring his beauty back, but as I explained at the time, I'm a Dark witch- as you already know- any magic I use comes with heavy consequences, I wasn't sure how bad the consequences were at the time, but because I had been so used to destruction for so many years, I decided it wasn't safe to risk it, not long after Jackson came to live with me we decided to plant the magic bean and climb the stalk, it was starting to get too dangerous for Jackson to just keep it after what happened with the alchemist, the stalk grew in the cave and so it was technically still within bounds of the barrier your mother set around me- when we climbed down later it dissappeared, there was no way of me escaping sadly- anyway, hardly the point, when we went into the Sky to see the Giants I asked the wisest available how I could regain my light magic, she said I had to grant wishes, one hundred wishes, to be exact, without getting anything in return, I thought at the time that it would be easy but it wasn't, when I started granting wishes I saw the consequences they held, how deep they went, I saw a man who wanted to be loved turned into an Incubus and a woman that was hurting turned into a Snow Queen who froze her entire village and many things even worse than those, it seemed that all of these wishes backfired... except one... but that's not relevant and that wasn't really a wish, nevermind, anyway, I started to give up and took Lydia, making a deal with her rather than a wish, hoping she and Jackson would fall in love and True Love's kiss might cure him, I'm not sure if it was because they weren't in love or because you can't cure something conducted by alchemy instead of magic, I didn't know he had been turned by an alchemist at the time, he didn't tell me but I just assumed it was another witch, I decided to keep trying to grant wishes some time after Lydia joined us in the hopes that it would still work, but I didn't want to complete all one hundred and kiss Jackson and nothing happen, I wanted to be sure that my dark magic- my consequences- wasn't getting in the way, I hoped to get another bean to ask the Giants in the Sky but clearly I haven't succeeded_

"You could have taken Derek up on his offer and had your hundreth wish, maybe gotten your light magic back, you and Jackson could have sailed off together in unholy matrimony, so what stopped you?" Stiles asked, Danny just shrugged, inhaling deeply, "I really hate Neverland, I didn't want to do anything to risk getting out of there and if the spell had gone wrong we may have been stuck, don't overthink it or take it as a favor to YOU," he said sourly, "Psh, sure Danny," Stiles snorted back, glancing across the boat as Jackson and Derek argued about something or other, it wasn't important, whatever it was, Derek seemed more tired and annoyed than he did actually upset so that was a good sign in Stiles' opinion, "Fascinating creatures, shapeshifters, don't you think?" Danny asked suddenly, drawing Stiles' attention, "As witches, you could say it's our job to watch over them, to keep a hand on the scruff of their neck, to anchor them... such fragile-hearted creatures, who are so often hurt by this world..." he mused, Stiles watched him for a moment and the realization sunk in that Danny had experienced love with two shapeshifters in a row, one as tragic as the other, and humans had ruined them both, killed one's body and killed the other's spirit, he glanced at Derek and felt his stomach churn, felt just a flicker of the rage he had felt when Derek had been returned to him bloody and broken from his time with the hunters, he thought about how it would feel to look at Derek every day and see those scars, know they wouldn't fade and that there was nothing he could do to stop it because he had been selfish and hurt once before, to see Derek suffering because he couldn't even leave their home due to the scars marring his flesh and the reaction he would get from them, he thought about the hurt- physical as well as emotional- Derek would be feeling, and the hurt that Stiles would feel if he had lost Derek before, seen him burn once before only to have a new Derek, like a Pheonix reborn from the ashes, only this Derek was broken- by the same humans who had taken his first- scarred and bled and hurting, and Stiles couldn't _fix_ it, couldn't help him, and the ones who had caused all of that pain only sought to make it worse.... he thought about that, as he watched Derek, and he understood why Danny had done everything he had done, he didn't agree with it, but he understood it, he licked his lips and looked away from Derek before he could start aching for something that hadn't happened, "I can't say I disagree with you completely," Stiles said softly, "You and I aren't so different Stiles, we say we are, but we've both stepped onto the same landmine, the only difference is that I moved my foot and let it do it's damage, wile you're still standing on it, looking for an elegant way to get out of the blast radius wen it goes off, you'll find no elegance here Stiles, you just have to decide if you want to be the one torn apart- if you want _Derek_ to be torn apart- or if you're willing to pull someone else in front of you, willing to pull the one who PUT them there in front of you," "And what about the innocent bystanders?" Danny shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest, "How much do strangers matter when your wolf is at risk?" Stiles swallowed, but he didn't answer


	18. Pan Piper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, a shadow attacked Stiles and changed their course...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently The Crocodile's name really is Tic Toc and I'm a little tempted to watch a few Peter Pan things in the hopes of seeing her because Tic Toc sounds pretty awesome

"I still can't believe you can actually talk to animals," Stiles mused as he stretched against the mastpost of the ship, "I don't TALK to them the way you and I hold a conversation Stiles.... but I do have considerably better communication than most people," she mused, "Mm..." "I think it's because I'm a mermaid with faery magic... after all merfolk can communicate with sea creatures rather well and Fae Folk can communicate with woodland creatures better than, say, humans... perhaps it's that," she mused absently, "It'd make sense, is it just the sea creatures and woodland creatures? I mean, like, can you talk to tigers too?" he asked curiously, "Well considering I've yet to encounter a tiger... I really don't know," she replied, "Too bad, because if you could raise some sort of tiger army-" "I would NOT raise a 'tiger army' even if I could," she pointed out, "Aww..." Stiles pouted, "Speaking of faeries... how exactly are you planning to get to ah.. Avalon... anyway?" John asked as he approached the duo, "I was thinking that we'd get back to the foxhole, make sure everything and everyone are mostly alright, and then I would take Stiles and Derek with me to Atlantis, there's a portal there where we could get straight to an Avalonian temple for the ritual, if all goes as planned it should take a day, maybe two at worst, Ascension isn't as difficult as it's percieved to be, it's all about nature taking it's course," "Right.... so how do you get to Atlantis?" Lydia gave him a sympathetic smile, "Well, first we find a body of water..." she began, it was around that moment that Stiles found himself tuning out of the conversation, anything Lydia said fell on deaf ears as far as he was concerned, because when he turned around, everything around him faded to an endless blackness, but he didn't care, he didn't even notice, because standing in front of him, right there before him, was his mother, smiling brightly at him as if nothing was wrong, "Mom..?" he breathed, "Stiles, my dear, how are you?" she said softly, "Mom... how... how are yo-" "I never really died Stiles, it was a trick, an illusion, I ended up here in Neverland and saw you boarding the ship, so I followed you and now I've appeared before you," he swallowed, feeling tears welling up in his eyes, "You're really... really here?" he breathed, "Yes Stiles, I'm really here," she smiled back, holding her arms out towards him, Stiles took a shaking breath, the tears starting to flow freely from his face as he broke into a run, "MOM!" he screamed, she smiled wider, bending down, but just before he could make it into her arms, just before he could greet her, he felt something wrap around his waist and pull him back, "No.. no... MOM!! MOM!!! MOM!!!! Let me go!! Let me go to my mother!!! Mom!!" he screamed, kicking and fighting against the air, watching in terror as his mother faded from his vision, "MOM!!!" _"STILES!"_ the witch gasped loudly, everything suddenly fading back to normal in a rush in front of him, he could hear his father's voice behind him, feel his familiar arms as they held Stiles in place, looked beside him to see Derek and Lydia looking horrified with everyone else lined up behind them, and his feet... his feet still clinging slightly to the edge of the ship.... "What... what happened?"

"I didn't think Pan could come this far," Lydia said absently as she stared up at the stars, "What? You mean to possess someone?" Stiles guessed, eyes closed and head pounding painfully, "It's not... exactly possession though, is it?" he asked quietly, "No, I suppose not," she replied, there was a beat of silence before Lydia stood up, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing slightly, "I'm sorry," he just nodded, watching her dissappear around to the other side of the ship, "You wanna come out from the shadows there Big Bad Wolf?" he hummed, smiling slightly wen a moment later Derek slowly peeked out from the corner and stepped towards him, looking a little guilty, "Sorry, I didn't mean to-" "You're fine, come here," he demanded, Derek obeyed without question, something he seemed to be doing more and more of lately, he exhaled and laid down with his head in Stiles' lap, he wasn't sure how he knew that that was what Stiles wanted- but he knew that that was what Stiles wanted anyway, and he felt himself start to relax when Stiles dug his fingers into Derek's hair, Stiles didn't want to talk about it, that much was obvious, and Derek knew what it was like to not want to talk about it, he had been there, so he left it alone, and if Stiles secretly wanted to talk about it he was sure that Stiles would indicate it, but so far the relaxing silence indicated otherwise, so he wordlessly reached over to the hand resting by Stiles' side and gave it a squeeze, closing his eyes as his veins started turning black, "Trying to take away the pain huh Big Bad?" "'Trying' implies I'm not succeeding- but I am succeeding, your head feels better right?" Stiles made a slight grunt of a noise and sighed loudly, with his entire body, as Derek continued to drain the pain, "Close your eyes Stiles," "Shouldn't I be saying that to you?" "Then we'll both close our eyes," "I wish... but someone has to keep an eye out for the crazy people Derek," for once, Derek mused, Stiles was doing a really horrible job at faking some amusement into his voice, "Let go Stiles, there are other capable people on this ship, and if they need you they'll wake you," "I know, trust me," he snorted, "So take a breath, it's a lie that there's no rest for the weary, how are you supposed to stand up and fight when you need to if your body is too taxed to lift your head?" "Wicked," "Hm?" "I think you mean no rest for the wicked," "But you aren't wicked," "Aren't I?" "No," Stiles swallowed, his exhausted mind flashed to Danny and he wondered, breifly, what it really took to be called wicked, and he wondered how many of those things really would have crossed a line that Stiles would be unwilling to cross if he was in that position, and he wondered how different they really were, "Stiles, just close your eyes," Derek insisted, his body had started to relax more and his his eyes starting to droop, Stiles glanced at him for a moment and felt his own eyes trying to pull the same stunt, and because he couldn't actually remember the last time he had real sleep, he let them

When Stiles opened his eyes again he found himself groggy and with Derek no where near, "Derek?" he called with a groan, gripping his head as he slowly stood up, the fog was getting thick- too thick to see in, "Derek!" he shouted again, squinting and trying to see as a dark figure moved towards him, "D-..Derek..?" he breathed, freezing when the image of his mother filled his sight, "Stiles," she said, her voice airy and distorted, "I'm right here," "N-No..... you're not my mom," he breathed, "Stiles, why would you say that?" "N.. not... not there.... you're not there! Not there not there not there!" he screamed, gripping his head and closing his eyes, it barely helped- he could still hear her, "Stiles, why are you rejecting me? Don't you recognize your own MOTHER!?" the apparition screamed as it flew towards him, Stiles screamed, backing up several steps and trying to get away, shutting his eyes again and gasping suddenly when cold water splashed against his back, he struggled to open his eyes and realized quite suddenly that he couldn't breathe, and when he did finally pry his eyes open it didn't seem to matter, all that was around him was inky blackness anyway, just as he was starting to resign to death, to the fact that he was going to drown here in freezing water and unable to so much as see the moon, he felt something strong and warm wrap around him and in a few moments he breached the water, gasping desperately and panting as he took in air, flailing and squirming, trying to fight to stay upright, to tread water, to do anything he could to keep from going back under, "Stiles!! Stiles it's ok! You're alright! Stiles, Stiles listen to me you're ok! You're ok!" he coughed and sputtered, gradually calming down and panting, "D-..D-....Derek?" "Yeah... yeah I'm here, you're ok," he promised, Stiles sniffed, clinging to the werewolf for warmth as Derek lifted him higher in the water and allowed him to wrap his arms around his chest, "It's never going to stop... is it?" Stiles breathed, "Pan? No... probbably not, until you're either dead or out of range..." Stiles gave a pained bark of a laugh and snorted, "Yeah, those both sound like great options, can't that freaking shadow travel between lands?" "No not without the Jolly Roger, the only land Pan can travel to on his own is the Mainland, and I don't know where that is... but it isn't where we're from," Stiles took a breath, trying to cleanse the salt water out of his nose but only sucking in more as he breathed, "That ship.... is that the Jolly Roger?" he asked quietly, "Yeah, that's her..." he snorted slightly, letting his head fall to Derek's shoulder, "Reminds me of a Jolly Rancher... every single time I hear it..." he muttered, "A what?" "Nevermind ... I'll tell you later..." he mumbled, looking around and pulling back suddenly, sparking Derek's alarm, "Hey.... where in the hell is Danny...?"

"DEREK!!! STILES!!!!!" Lydia screamed as she stared over the side of the ship, "They're over here!!" Braeden shouted from the other side of the ship, Lydia wipped her head around and started racing to the other side of the ship, "W-WOAH!" Danny shouted from behind her, struggling to keep up, "What?" she hissed venomously, "I.. I don't know... you walk and I walk... you notice that Stiles is a wile away and I haven't gone any closer to the water at all," he noted, Lydia paled, swallowing harshly, "Oh no..." "Oh yes..." "Can that really happen? A binding spell transferred without anyone even knowing it?" Issac asked as he looked away from the water, "Yes, certain magics are strong enough to do that, Pan's is one of them, Pan lives off of a very ancient magic coming from centuries- or perhaps longer for all we know- of one soul being stuck on Neverland and never aging and from centuries of sacrifices, you see the magic Neverland possesses does alot more than just prevent aging, it's a very anci-" "History lesson later, magic lesson now, how do I get you off of me and back onto Stiles?" Lydia asked briskly, "Well... you can't unless Stiles is nearby," he shrugged, "Easy, problem solved, I just have to go get Stiles," she added, pulling off her boots and climbing onto the edge of the ship, "Wait a second!" Danny shouted, catching her by the ankles before she could jump, "What!?" "You can't jump over! If you jump, I go with you," "Then swim with me," "You really think that someone who hasn't even been in the water in twenty years can keep up with a mermaid!? You're crazy!" "Thanks," she snorted, "Listen Lydia, you may not like me, you may not want anything to do with me, but you DO _**NEED ME** , you can't just kick that away, if I die, alot of things here are completely screwed and I think you know that," she swallowed, staring listlessly at the water and climbing down, much to Danny's releif, "I wasn't actually going to drown you, just for the record," she pointed out, he blinked at her, a little surprised, "Oh... well than-" "I'd much rather you live to a ripe old age so I can make you suffer ten times for every day you made ME suffer," he nodded slowly, "That... sounds alot more like the Lydia I know..."_

_"Well? What does it say?" Derek asked with a frown, Stiles sighed, watching the butterfly that Lydia had sent to carry her message as it flew away back towards the ship, "Lydia said that Pan transferred our binding spell from me and Danny to Danny and Lydia," "Crap..." Derek breathed, "Yeah, and we're still a pretty long way from getting back to the boat, it keeps moving forward..." Stiles sighed, struggling to keep treading water as Derek pulled him a little closer, "Can you summon Issac?" Derek asked hopefully, "Sure, but there's no grantee he'll be able to get back to the boat if I do, he might still be too worn out to get back up there on his own, not to mention hauling us behind him," he sighed, "Good point," Derek muttered back, "So what do we do?" "We swim, I guess," Derek sighed, "Right... swim..." Stiles nodded, starting to swim forward again, "You going to be ok to do that?" "Yeah yeah, don't worry about me... I'll be fine," he said with a slight, weak smile, "If you're sure," Derek mumbled, starting to swim forward as well, "If we can sorta just... push forward.. just a little bit harder and faster than we are now... maybe we can actually get closer..." Stiles sighed as he swam, "What do you suggest?" Derek asked, "I don't know... just ... a few really big, long strokes?" Derek nodded, waiting for Stiles to be the first to swim forward, after a moment of hesitation he kicked off, trying to push himself harder and faster and taking a breath when he stopped, looked up, and saw the boat just in front of them, "STILES!!!" Lydia shouted, Stiles smiled, waving up to her, "LYDIA!!! I'M HERE!!" he called back, "STILES THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE WATER!!" he blinked, utterly confused, "OFCOURSE there's something in the water Lydia!! I'm in an OCEAN!!" Stiles shouted back, Stiles could swear he could actually see her eyes rolling from all the way down in the water... "I know that! I meant something is CHASING YOU in the water!" Stiles turned, heart sinking when he saw that, indeed, just a few feet behind Derek was a long, scaley green tail flicking her up by the surface, "D-DEREK!!" he shouted, swimming back to him quickly, "Sti-" "Derek behind you!"_

_"What the hell is that?" John breathed as he watched the creature move closer to the two in the water, "The Crocodile," Lydia answered, "Crocodile? What's a crocodile doing out here?" "Not just any crocodile... THE Crocodile... around here we call her Tic Toc," "Why do you call her that?" Melissa asked, "Because long ago she swallowed a clock and now she makes a tick-tock sound all the time," she replied, biting her lip as she stared across at the crocodile, "What are we going to do? Why is it here?" "She's chasing prey- since her usual isn't around she must be looking for a substitute," she said quietly, "So how do we get rid of her?" "I'm not sure.... I ... I mean... I could try being polite," she shrugged, "Oh you MUST be kidding..." Jackson grumbled, "She isn't, Tic-Toc is a very polite crocodile, if Lydia asks nicely she'll go away," Danny shrugged, the Kanima just groaned, "This place I swear..."_

_"I can't... Derek... I just... I just can't swim anymore..." Stiles panted as he quickly attempted to flip onto his back and float to avoid treading more water, "Stiles-" "You realize, don't you, that once we actually get to the boat, we're going to have no way to get ON the boat?" there was a pause and Stiles took the silence as a confirmation that Derek had, indeed, not realized that, "Lydia would have to turn something into an awfully long rope and even if she could we'd have to climb up the entire way, who's idea was it for the Jolly Roger to be so FREAKING big anyway? It's like scaling a building," Derek seemed considerably less bothered by treading water than Stiles did but if the way he occasionally stopped and let himself sink under only to spring back up a moment later was any indication, even he was starting to get pretty tired of it, "I... well how else are we going to get back then?" he huffed, Stiles attempted not to shrug, because really, he had just started balancing himself on the water here (AKA: only half sinking) and didn't relish having to kick and flail around again, "How far's the boat now anyway?" Stiles asked after a moment, "Far enough... we lost alot of it when we were trying not to make any sudden movements and get attacked by that stupid crocodile," Derek spat, "Don't nock the croc Der, she left us alone, it isn't her fault people are afraid of crocodiles, I mean she left when Lydia asked her to so..." "I still don't get that," "What can I say? Not all werewolves are interested in eating people, I guess all crocodiles aren't interested in eating people either," any other time Stiles would've been amused by the wave of guilt that washed over Derek's face at that revelation but right now he was just too tired, "Pan can probbably get to me in the water still, you know," he added suddenly, "I mean, I really wouldn't be surprised if he did, you know?" Derek made a non-committed noise and let himself sink under the water again, Stiles just waited, staring up at the stars and squinting slightly at them, "What's that saying about the second star to the right?" he muttered to himself, "Am I supposed to wish on it? Or.. no ... wait... maybe that's the north star... or..." he sighed, "I hate astrology, I hate astronomy, I hate all the things to do with the stars and space," he spat, "You REALLY shouldn't say that, the stars will be angry with you," he heard, screaming and flailing in the water, obviously he sank for a moment, choking and bobbing back to the surface as he squirmed, "Holy God! What the hell!?" he screamed, looking around and feeling his stuttering heart start to stammer back to normal when his eyes landed on a faery, "God... what th-" "The stars will get mad and point you in wrong directions if you insult them- or worse, you should see what they do to children who spite faeries," she commented, he sighed, watching as Derek's head popped back up to the surface, "Ok, well, thanks for the heart failure, who are you exactly?" the faery smiled brightly, twirling in her blue and silver dress and fluttering closer to them as Derek swam forward, "I'm Silvermist, I'm one of Tinkerbell's freinds, she sent me here in her place," "Tinkerbell?" Derek muttered, Stiles gave a jerky nod, "The faery with the pink hair? Caitlin? Is Tinkerbell her Pixie Hollow name?" he asked, "Ohhh you catch on so fast!" Silvermist said ecstatically, "Yeah... names have such a power in the world of magic, Fae Folk change their names all the time depending on where they are and who they're with so they can't be controlled by people, isn't that right?" he guessed, Silvermist hummed and nodded, glancing over her shoulder at the boat and then back at Stiles, "You must have experience with it," "Yeah I do," he muttered back, "Is that why you call yourself 'Stiles'?" Derek asked suddenly, eyebrows pinching as if he were mostly confused by also somewhat offended, "I... actually.... I don't remember..." he confessed, jerking his attention back to Silvermist, "Tinkerbell wanted me to help you guys find your way back to your world," "Why?" Stiles asked in surprise, "I mean it's really hard for Faeries to leave Pixie Hollow once they're there isn't it?" "Tink said she would be calling on you two for a favor later," she explained, Stiles nodded, "So, you gonna help us back to the boat?" Silvermist grinned brightly, wings fluttering even more quickly than before, "I surely am! Have either of you heard of the Looking Glass?" "I have," Derek perked immediately, "Then you kno-" "It leads to Wonderland," "Well yes, it actually leads to any destination you want it to lead to, just by thinking about a place, you can go to Wonderland or Oz or Atlantis or ... say.... back to the Jolly Roger," she smiled, "You're going to give us the Looking Glass?" Stiles asked hopefully, "Well... sadly, no, the Looking Glass was broken a very very long time ago by the 37th Alice when she was being hunted by the Blind Witch, Alice shattered the mirror and the shards are spread out in tiny peices all over the dimensions, no one could ever hope to gather them all so the mission was abandoned, although the Gold Queen of Narnia tried for about eighty years and only ever found three of them," she mused, "Is this another quest?" Derek snipped with a frustrated huff, because really, he had had it about up to HERE with the quests by now, "Sort of yes and sort of no, there's a shard of the mirror in the water riiiiiiiiight underneath you," "Well that's unusually convenient," Stiles snorted, "Yes... but you'll have to go and get it, as you know if my wings get wet-" "Right right, faeries can't get their wings wet, especially Neverland faeries, I get it, alright, so, how do we find a splinter of glass at the bottom of a freaking ocean in the middle of the night?" he asked with a dark frown, Silvermist looked elated and detatched a pouch from around her waist, laying it in Derek's open palm and opening it to reveal a little bright light, an orb of beautifull, warm orange glow, "You can thank my freind Iridessa for this, now, just sprinkle it with a little Pixie Dust," she paused, removing some Pixie Dust from the other pouch on her hip and dropping it over the orb as it grew bigger and bigger, enough now to fill Derek's palm, "AND VOILA~" she smiled as she sprung forward, "One of you just has to dive down and you'll spot the glint of the glass beneath the water, when you rise to the surface again, the light will go out, simple right?" "Right," Stiles muttered, reaching for the light only for Derek to lean back and move away, "I've got this one, really," he said sharply, Stiles sighed and would have argued but he new he would lose this time, between the fact that Stiles had almost drowned and the fact that werewolves could hold their breaths for significantly longer than any human it actually made much more sense if Derek went under, "I'll wait here with Stiles until you get back," Silvermist smiled, Derek gave a nod, arching up in the water and pausing, "There isn't anything living down there that I should be afraid of is there?" he asked suspiciously, "Nope~ Just watch out for Tic Toc, if she gets even a tiny taste of your blood and likes it she'll never stop hunting you until she eats you alive," she smiled, "I mean, she's been after James for a hundred years now," she grinned, Derek gave a grimace of a sarcastic grin in response, "Thanks," he huffed, diving under, "Oh! And the sharks! Watch out for the sharks!" she shouted after it was too late, Stiles' mouth fell open and he glanced up at the faery, "How dangerous are the sharks?" he asked cautiously, "Ohhh not that dangerous for other predators like werewolves but they like a good challenge, now, fish, that's a different story, if he was a fish, that would be trouble," she mused, Stiles cringed again but knew that he really couldn't go after Derek without making things worse, besides, sharks were sort of the least of their worries... "Why did Cait- ... Tink... why did Tink give me her real name? I mean, assuming it IS her real name?" Stiles asked, Silvermist nodded slowly, as if confirming that Caitlin was in fact her real name, "Why indeed.... it's a mystery isn't it? Maybe she just wants your trust?" she suggested, Stiles sighed and glared at the water, waiting for Derek to pop back up, somehow he doubted the idea that she would really give her real name out just for that reason but he didn't have the energy to contemplate it further, "Yeah... maybe that's all it is..."_

_Derek gasped when he breached the water again, panting desperately and swimming towards Stiles and Silvermist, "Did you get it?" Stiles asked eagerly, the werewolf nodded slowly, finally coming to stop in front of him and open his palm, revealing a small glass shard no bigger than his finger, "Is this it?" he asked, staring up at Silvermist, the faery smiled brightly and nodded, "Yes that's it!" she cried happily, Stiles grinned, looking at his palm and frowning wen he saw a few spots of blood on Derek's hand, "Hey did you get hurt?" "Ah? Oh, I must have squeezed the glass too hard on my way up... the sharks thought a swimming werewolf was hilarious," he sighed, Stiles frowned, not entirely comfortable with the idea of blood in the water where sharks were lurking- his mate's blood especially, "That figures," Silvermist hummed, "Right... how do we make this thing work?" he asked quickly, the faery jumped back to alarm and snapped her fingers, grinning in delight, "Alright! Just put your hands over the glass- like this," she said, demonstrating by putting her hands over eachother, "-so you can both be effected, then, think clearly of the place you want to go, you don't both have to but atleast one of you does, the other should try not to think of locations or to think only of where you need to be, after that- POOF! There you'll be," she grinned, "Will we get to keep the shard?" Stiles asked, "Well.. you can if you want to but it won't automatically go with you, it'll stay here once you vanish, I'll take it ofcourse and I could deliver it to you on the ship," she offered, Stiles frowned deeper, he had a feeling that they were being used to get this thing for the faeries all along but he wasn't about to comment on it, they still needed it after all... "So, make a wish on a peice of glass, that's all we have to do?" he asked, Silvermist nodded her confirmation, "That's all you have to do," he smiled, "Alright, then I'll be the one to get us there, my brain isn't as .... scattered," Derek offered, staring at Stiles pointedly, "I actually have to agree with you on this one Big Guy," he smiled wryly, "Alright, you guys ready?" the faery smiled, "Yeah..... except, a question," Stiles posed, "Silvermist.... do you have even a slight idea on why Tic Toc is swimming closer to us like this?" he asked suspiciously, glaring across the ocean at the the green figure started moving closer and closer, "Oh she's probbably just coming to play, Tic Toc is a VERY playfull crocodile," she hummed with a smile, "Then why in the hell is she licking her lips!?" Stiles shouted, glancing at Derek and suddenly remembering the blood on his hand, "Oh you don't thin-" "I DO think Derek, get us out of here! Get us out of here quick! Now!" he screamed, struggling to keep himself floating with just his legs as he clasped his hand over Derek's the werewolf yelped, glancing behind him and seeing the crocodile coming nearer and nearer to him, "Hurry Derek!" "I can't concentrate!" he huffed, snapping his eyes shut and squeezing his and Stiles' hands together as the glass cut into his palm again, and in a flash, they were gone, a few drops of blood in the water just as Tic Toc rose up and swallowed a mouthfull, the glass landed on the crocodile's nose and Silvermist fluttered forward, picking it up and holding it carefully in both hands as she backed away, "Thanks for catching that for me," she said enthusiastically, nodding respectfully to the reptile and fluttering off back towards Neverland, with the Looking Glass shard that none of them could retrieve before now firmly in their grasp, they might just have a way to get out- a way to escape from Pan_


	19. Through The Looking Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time a witch and a werewolf fell into Wonderland, and fell under a haze of psychedelic colors and nightmarish images...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **This chapter contains hallucinations and getting high without realizing it** although I don't know if I can technically call it drugs... I guess we'll find out?

Stiles groaned and felt his eyes squish and squint as he rolled over and tried to ignore the brightness of the sun, the grass was warm on his face but it was also itchy and made him groan again as it brushed past his nose, causing him to sneeze loudly enough to wake himself up the rest of the way and jerk into a sitting position screeching miserably at the sunlight, "Why sun why?" he groaned in frustration, pausing suddenly and narrowing his eyes, "Wait.... sun... grass..." he muttered, looking around, there was a lake shortly behind him and an assortment of massive, colorfull flowers of all shapes and designs scattering the feild, he could hear music playing in the distance and saw several people a dozen or so yards away, he cursed loudly as he realized were they were, "Derek? I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..."

~+~

"They went through the looking glass already but they aren't here," Lydia frowned deeply as she leaned back against the side of the ship, "And the um... the crocodile told you that huh?" Jackson asked with a small snort, Lydia glared up at him but didn't budge, "Maybe they just decided to go back to the foxhole already," Issac shrugged, "I don't think Stiles would do that, he wouldn't just leave us here without telling us," Lydia protested, "I'm in agreement, knowing those two they probbably managed to screw this up and are in Asgard," Danny noted, "Oh .... not Asgard..." Braeden groaned with a cringe, "How do you know anything about Asgard?" Issac asked suspiciously, "It's a long story, I'll tell you some other time, but let's just say... I've had my experience with world jumping, I've been to my fair share of other realms by this point," "You say that as if you're the only one here who has, but lust is a thing that can be fed on in _every_ realm," Issac smirked, "Oh I guarantee I've been to more places than you," Braeden teased, "Really now? Shall we measure that in time, distance, or sheer numbers of times we jumped?" "How about we just go by each place we've visited with a different name and count like that?" Braeden suggested, "Ohh... now yo-" "EXCUSE ME," Lydia interrupted, drawing the attention of both the vampire and the incubus, "We do actually have something urgent going on here," Lydia huffed, "Right... sorry..." Issac muttered dejectedly, "Well what about that little... magic... butterfly thingy you did earlier?" John suggested, "It doesn't work between realms," Lydia sighed, "Ofcourse it doesn't..." John grumbled back, "Then how are we going to get answers?" Cora asked impatiently, "Put simply?" Laura frowned, "We wait,"

~+~

"Stiles..." Derek breathed, rubbing his eyes slightly as he opened them, staring up at the sky and sitting up briskly, "Hey," Stiles mumbled slightly, "We're in Wonderland," Derek stated simply, Stiles nodded, "Yes, I suppose we are," "Look at our clothes..." Derek breathed, staring down at the soft, baggy clothes they were both in now, oversized peasant tops- pure white and loose and crafted in layers of chiffon, the pants seemed to match in fabric and looseness and neither had any shoes in sight, "How peculiar... I haven't dressed like this since I was a child..." he muttered, picking at his sleeve, "You used to wear this crap? It's so flowy and breezy and... really?" Stiles laughed, falling back and letting his back and head hit the ground, "Ouch..." he grumbled, Derek giggled, climbing over to straddle his body as he peered down at the witch, "What's wrong?" "The grass isn't as soft as it looks..." Stiles pouted, Derek pouted back, leaning down and pressing their noses together, "Yeah... it's very deceptive, Wonderland is a very deceptive place but grass ALWAYS seems to be deceptive..." he mused, glancing up and gasping suddenly as he climbed to his feet, "STILES!" he cried, grabbing the witch's hand and tugging him onto his feet, "Look where we are!!!" "A very deceptive part of Wonderland?" Stiles guessed, he shook his head quickly and dragged him towards the lake, "No no not that, we're just across from the Glass Lake!" he cried, "Glass Lake? What on earth would that be?" Stiles asked as he followed, Derek bit his lip to contain a bright grin and pulled him closer and closer to the water, "You'll see," he insisted, stepping onto the water, and to Stiles' shock, he didn't sink in, stepping further and further out, the water only served to pool around the bottom of his feet and occasionally slosh up against the top of them, and as Stiles stepped out onto the gate, he realized with a gasp that the same was happening to him, he was walking on water..... _they_ were walking on water... "Would you care to dance?" Derek smiled, "But there's no music," Stiles argued, "We'll make our own music and Wonderland will follow," Derek replied confidently, dragging Stiles closer to the center of the lake and starting to sing a tune

"My vision's not quite right, but glasses make me look a sight, enough to give the world a fright, like a sprite... wearing specs," Stiles chuckled, allowing Derek to pull him closer and humming along with him, **"Oh firey little sprite, confliguration in the night, don't play games with your sight, if it leaves you in the dark,"** Derek smiled and placed one of Stiles' hands on his hip, holding the other in his own hand, _"Oh I prefer, life all a blur, I forget to wear my glasses, when I sing I share caresses, it feels good to close my eyes,"_ Stiles snickered, hearing music beginning to play from the flowers around him and sway in place with Derek, **"Oh my pretty arsonist, let me clasp you close to me, rip your clothes with my teeth and turn them into confetti, to scatter as we kiss,"** Derek paused, laughing, "Confetti~?" he hummed, **"On you and me,"** Derek leaned closer as he started to move with Stiles in a slow waltz, _"All I see are stars, suddenly some days, my eyes lead me astray, far away down the street, until I come back to steal a glance at the sun, or even look the sky straight in the eyes, all I see are stars,"_ he hummed lowly, the music getting louder as they danced across the lake, **"I won't let you stray, I'll be your only guide, let me be your pair of eyes, you will be my special flame,"** Derek smiled more, leaning his face closer as they danced, _"There's one thing I must confess, of five senses my hearing's best, I'll never recognize you by, relying on my eyes,"_ **"Smoldering embers, alone in the dark, we'll raise cascades of sparks, as the clock of my heart strikes midnight we'll catch on fire, and blaze so bright you'll see the light,"** they paused as Derek twirled him around several times, catching him in his arms again and leaning down to press his forehead against the witch's, _**"All I see are stars, suddenly some days, my eyes lead me astray, far away down the street, until I come back to steal, a glance at the sun, or even look the sky straight in the eyes, all I see are stars,"**_ they stopped, taking a moment to simply breathe in eachother's air and smiling stupidly at one another, "Do you want another dance?" Derek hummed, Stiles grinned and nodded eagerly, just like that the music coming from the flowers changed, _"Love, love is strange, many people take it for a game, once you get it you're in an awfull fit, 'cause after you've had it, you never wanna quit..."_

~+~

"FINALLY land, I feel like I've been on that boat for a century," Issac groaned as he got off of the ship, everyone else trailing behind him, "Oh relax, it hasn't even been a full night," Lydia snorted as she stepped towards the door in front of them, "Yes but you seem to forget that I, unlike you, was transported here against my will," he pointed out, Cora stared up at him, glaring sharply, "REALLY?" she huffed, he flinched slightly, "Um..." "Can we please just go?" Laura asked in exasperation as she too stepped through the door, "How do we get back to our world exactly?" Melissa asked as she followed, "One of these doors leads back to it, ofcourse, we'll have to figure out wich one, but Lyd-" "BRAEDEN!" the women turned around, seeing Braeden collapsed near the threshold of the door, "What happened?" Melissa asked immediately, "I don't know, I don't know she just collapsed when she crossed the threshold," Issac replied, "It's Neverland..." Danny breathed, "What?" "Neverland... Braeden is a vampire, she has to feed on blood to survive, there isn't exactly a massive supply of blood on Neverland, even though there are plenty of other people there most of them are of the supernatural variety and vampires can mostly only drink human blood to survive, there are a few exceptions... but very few, Neverland is a land outside of time, people can get hungry but they really can't starve any easier than they can age, due to the lack of blood Braeden probbably held off on feeding, staving off the hunger once she realized it wouldn't kill her, now that she's back in a place where time moves however, that lack of blood is taking it's toll... and quickly," "So she needs blood? Is that what you're saying?" Issac asked quickly, Danny gave a sharp nod and the Incubus took a breath, "Easy enough, someone hand me a dagger,"

~+~

"You know what I feel like?" Derek asked suddenly, "What?" Stiles breathed, their chests huffing against eachother as the two panted softly, "Tea," Derek smiled, pointing towards the small gathering of people several yards off, "Oh is that a tea party?" Stiles mused curiously, Derek nodded slowly, "We should definately go there, I think good things can happen if we go there," Derek said with a nod of confidence, "Then we should definately do the thing," Stiles agreed, taking his hand and pulling him towards the bank of the lake and onto the land again, the air was so hazy and thick and there was a humidity in the air that made even the flowiest clothes feel restrictive but Derek figured they could take care of that later, "Do you think the tea is cold?" Derek asked suddenly, "Probbably not," Stiles shrugged back as they walked towards the long table in the distance, the nearer they got, the more they realized that no one was paying much attention to them, everyone was absorbed in what they were doing, and what they were doing varied from dancing to drinking to kissing behind the trees, the air seemed somehow thicker closer to the table but neither of them seemed to mind much, "Now... what do you think the tea is?" Derek muttered, looking around the table and chewing on his lip, "I do believe that this is it," Stiles replied, picking up a purple and blue striped tea pot with three spouts and tilting it forward, Derek watched with a mirthfull laugh as the tea poured forward and he grabbed a cup from some random part of the table, slipping it under the flow of the tea and draping himself across the table, "It's like a waterfall of tea isn't it?" he mused, "A waterfall.... that would be fun to watch," Stiles hummed back, very vaguely, he had a feeling in the back of his mind that there was something else he should be doing, but he didn't have even the foggiest clue of what it might be

~+~

"Are you feeling any better?" Lydia asked as she leaned over to check on Braeden, the vampire nodded, standing slowly and taking a breath, "I'm sorry about that," "You're fine, don't worry," Issac said quickly, "I can't believe incubus blood worked," she mused, "Must be because Incubi are simalar to vampires- they're both energy feeders, just as Bitten vampires can feed on purebloods to gain power, perhaps vampires can feed on Incubi to get energy," Danny mused, "I'm not sure but I'm not about to question it now," Issac hummed, "Our goal should be finding our way out of here," Cora chimed in, "Is that why we're waiting?" Braeden asked, smirking slightly, "I know exactly what door it is," she smirked, walking confidently towards the large wooden door with the leaf carved into it, "How..?" "Well I've been through it enough," Braeden hummed, Issac just grinned, chuckling softly, "Oh.... you REALLY want to challenge me on that don't you?"

~+~

"You know what you need?" Stiles hummed, stroking his fingers through Derek's hair, "Hm?" the werewolf hummed back, blinking up at him as Stiles picked another grape from the vine on the table and placed it against Derek's lips, "You are a king, you're MY king, the Alpha, and that's sort of like a king right?" he mused as Derek took the grape into his mouth, letting Stiles' fingers run across his teeth, "And ALL kings need a crown," he mused, pulling his hand back despite Derek's grunt of protest and grabbing a crown of flowers that sat nearby, Derek gasped loudly and sat up, staring at him with wide eyes, "You made that for me?" he breathed, "Um... no... I took it off some girl's head but she didn't seem to mind," he shrugged, leaning up and placing the flower crown on Derek's head, "TADA! Kingy Wingy!" he grinned happily, Derek looked up, trying (and obviously failing) to see the crown on his head, "I'm sure it looks very good, but I'm not your king," he said simply, "What? You're so... you're... like the Alpha King," Stiles pouted, "Nuh-uh, you're this ... like... this chosen one thingy... thingy... kingy... kingy wingy right? You're this ...." he paused, moving his arms out in front of him and making a wooshing sound, "ACTUAL ascended master king thing," "Nah, Ascendeds aren't REALLY all that rare," he shrugged, pulling Derek closer by the shirt so they were nose to nose, "We just tell people they're super rare so they panic and go to us for advice," he giggled, placing his finger on his lips and breathing out a low "Shhhhhh," Derek tilted his head, rolling back onto the table as his head slammed into Stiles' lap, "No, you're just being mumble, Ascended thingy-kingys are a big deal, I know it deep in my SOUL," Stiles laughed loudly, tossing his head back gleefully as he fed Derek another grape, "I think you mean 'humble' Sweetie," he snickered, it appeared as if this was brand new information to Derek, "Am I really?" "Uh-huh, I mean... I don't think I mumble..." he said under his breath, raking his fingers through Derek's hair again and grabbing another grape with his free hand, "I still think you're the Alpha King though," "I don't even remember if I'm an Alpha... maybe Laura's the Alpha... maybe YOU'RE the Alpha..." "I don't think I can be an Ascended AND an Alpha, I think that's too much power, like... that's world domination stuff power," he mused with a shrug, Derek looked up at him, rather sadly as Stiles let his fingers linger in Derek's mouth a little longer after the grape was gone, "I still want you to be king," he said quietly as he rolled over and onto his nees, crawling forward and kissing Stiles adoringly, "I just can't wait to be king," Stiles hummed melodically as he skimmed his hands down Derek's shoulders and back, "You'd be the greatest king of the jungle," Derek breathed, leaning in to kiss him more as Stiles gasped and tumbled backwards, "Did you KNOW that lions don't ACTUALLY live in jungles? This is brand new information to me but that's only tigers, apparently, technically lions are kings of ... um... I'm not sure actually... but the JUNGLES belong to tigers, and also orangutans... BUT don't EVER trust an orangutan because he just wants to set people on fire," Stiles said assuredly, Derek nodded, seeming to be listening intently to him, "Fire is a BAD thing," Derek said seriously, "Awww I know Boo..." Stiles cooed, leaning down and kissing Derek's forehead, "Stiles?" "Huh?" "I'm gonna make you a crown," he said, staggering off of the table, Stiles tilted as he watched him, "But... how do you even make flower crowns...?"

~+~

"Are Derek and Stiles here?" Lydia asked the moment she landed in the foxhole, walking briskly towards the other group, "They aren't with you?" Scott asked with concern, "I don't understand, how did you guys get separated?" Kira questioned worriedly, "It's a very long story but it involves a crocodile, an evil shadow, and a mirror," Lydia sighed back, flopping down next to Malia as the rest of the group started to file in, "So if they aren't here and they aren't with us, the question is... where are they?" Issac asked, "Could be anywhere, knowing Stiles he panicked and started thinking about Oz," Lydia grumbled, "Let's hope not, Oz is going through a TERRIBLE phase, not at all the best place to be right now," Braeden said with a shudder, "Who are you?" Malia asked bluntly, Issac and Braeden exchanged looks, "Oh... ah... this is-" "Mom?" Scott perked, jumping up immediately and breaking into a smile, quickly brushing past everyone else and hurdling towards his mother, "Mom! Mom you're back!! You're ok!!" he screamed, wrapping his arms around her and almost nocking her over, "It's good to see you too Scott," she breathed, hugging him tightly, "What happened? Where were you? Why are you here? How did you-" "I'll explain everything ok? I promise, just.. take a deep breath and try to stay calm," she said softly, "And the rest?" Erica hummed, looking up from the ice she had been using to doodle pictures onto a rock with, it wasn't exactly a fun hobby but it served as a good distraction and made for excellent control practice, "Ah.. right... Laura and Cora are Derek's sisters, Sheriff is Stiles' father... you can see our Queen here is Scott's mother, and Braeden is my-" "YOU!" Malia shouted suddenly, rising to her feet and charging past them, Issac held his hands up in defeat, glaring at the ceiling as the girl stomped towards Danny, fangs bared and eyes glowing yellow, "YOU are the scum that did this to me!" she snarled, Jackson just rolled his eyes as Danny sighed and shrugged, "Another happy customer..." he muttered, "My God how many people have you screwed over?" Laura breathed, the sorcerer took a moment to think about that, counting in his head, "Well.... I've got ninety-nine viable wishes.... but I also did some work that didn't count... and some that I did for... charity.. you could say... sooooo.... I'm not sure, over a hundred?" he guessed, "THAT'S the scale you use to measure by? Something over a hundred?" Braeden huffed, "Well I'm fairly sure it's UNDER two hundred if that helps, not completely positive but fairly sure," he mused, "Great, what did Mr. Dark Magic do to YOU?" Cora sighed, running her fingers through her anxiously, "He separated me from my brother," she snarled, "... I'm sorry, what?" Cora asked, "Not to MENTION he almost had me stuck as a FOX for my entire life!" "Wait a minute, go back to the brother thing," Laura said slowly, "My twin brother and I... we used to shapeshift into the same thing, you know, like _TWINS_!? THIS .... cretin... turned me into something else! My brother and I can't ever be proper pack anymore because I'm not even a coyote!" she screamed, "I'm sorry, how is this the worst thing Danny has done?" Boyd chimed from beside Erica, "You don't understand.... none of you have twins, none of you were born shapeshifters either... except for these two," she muttered, nudging towards Cora and Laura, "We may not be twins but we understand her point well enough," Laura commented, "To a natural born shifter your family is everything, family is pack, pack is family.... when you have such a tiny one like we now have with Derek it can feel like a noose around your neck, your survival is dependant on your pack bond and if it's weak at all it can mean certain death, it's why small packs like our's crowd together, we connect when we shift, we can hear eachother's thoughts if we tune into eachother, we run the same pace and communicate through voices only we can understand, to be able to shift with your siblings- your family, sure, but especially your siblings- it's like having an extension of yourself to run with, I imagine with twins that feeling is amplified by double if not more," Cora explained, "It's more, it's way more," Liam said quietly from the back, "Malia and I used to both be coyotes, we always ran together but after our parents were killed we were all we had, we stayed coyotes for years without shifting back and had such a strong telepathic bond that we were on the same wavelength all the time, we didn't even have to communicate, we just knew... it was incredibly helpfull, it was the only way we stayed a step ahead of the hunters, we didn't feel like siblings, we felt like two halves of the same person," he explained quietly, "And then HE took that from me!" Malia screamed, lurching towards Danny only for Lydia to reach out and hold her back, "I don't understand, what did he do?" Scott asked, Malia sniffed, glancing at him painfully, "He turned me into a monster..."

~+~

"I don't think that's helping," Stiles mused as he dropped a grape into his mouth, watching Derek as he used a blade of grace dipped in some sort of liquidy red substance to paint the white flowers he had picked, "I want to paint them before I make them a crown, Mom used to teach me how to paint flowers when I was small," he mused, "Really?" Stiles asked curiously," Uh-huh, it's been a tradition for Alices for... I forget how many years, but a VERY long time," "You could be an Alice I bet, you're very gifted," Stiles hummed as he watched Derek paint streaks across the flower petals, "I don't think so, and I don't think I want to be an Alice, they have to do some VERY peculiar things," "Mmm... that IS a pity.... peculiar things can be fun but not if it involves cats taking off their heads and playing cards stabbing you," he mused, pressing another grape into Derek's mouth before reaching for one of his own, "You're absolutely right, Mom used to say that we should all try to do seven impossible things before breakfast but I always found it was quite scary to attempt impossible things- especially so early in the morning," "It's much easier to do impossible things at night," Stiles added, "Have you done many impossible things?" Derek asked curiously, Stiles grinned, moving closer to him, "I tamed a big bad wolf.... that's atleast one," he purred, "Big Bad Wolf huh? Does that make you Little Red Riding Hood?" he asked, "Except that I'm not quite so little- also, I think the reason your painting is going poorly is because you're using jelly Dearie," Stiles added suddenly, Derek blinked slowly, dipping his finger in the substance, "Am I?" he breathed, Stiles leaned forward and licked it off, nodding assuredly, "You are very much using jelly Big Bad Wolf," he mused, taking one of the clean flowers and sticking it behind his ear, shrugging modestly, "Oh Little Red Riding Hood.... you sure are looking good," he laughed, "I love that song- I love THIS song! C'mon, dance!" Stiles hummed as he helped Derek to his feet unsteadily on the table, _"Hey there Little Red Riding Hood, you sure are looking good, you're everything that a big bad wolf would want,"_ Stiles laughed as they danced, running his hands all over Derek's body as the two of them howled at random intervals, _"What big eyes you have, the kind of eyes that drive wolves mad, so just to see that you don't get chased, I think I ought to walk with you for a ways,"_ Stiles laughed harder as he stumbled, only for Derek to catch him, he leaned down and picked up a chalice full of some red liquid that he suspected was cranberry or cherry juice- really it could be either- and leaned up to pour it all over Derek, who thought it was _hilarious_ and only danced closer, pulling Stiles close to his body and running his hands over his hips rather securely, _"What full lips you have, they're sure to lure someone bad, so until you get to Grandma's place, I think you ought to walk with me and be safe,"_ when the smell of pomegranate juice filled his senses it was all Derek could do to keep control, it was like someone had just shot an aphrodisiac into his already altered state of mind and whatever was turning his senses to jelly just doubled, he found his hands everywhere on Stiles' body and his lips and teeth tugging here and there, he vaguely noticed that he had shifted to his half-form, claws and fangs and ears and eyes... none of the fur but he vaguely wondered if he had a tail yet, Stiles seemed absolutely enthralled and couldn't stop running his fingers over Derek's teeth, although the werewolf was a bit afraid that if he kept that up it would only lead to a rather unpleasant biting incident... _"Little Red Riding Hood, I'd like to hold you if I could, but you might think I'm the Big Bad Wolf so I won't,"_ Stiles isn't sure what caused the sudden spike in Derek's energy, as he had been in a rather lazy haze before, but he liked it, he liked the touching, he liked the feeling, he liked the look of euphoria that crossed over the werewolf's face everytime he howled and rubbed up against Derek's body, the werewolf was dripping with the red juice and Stiles leaned in to suck a random patch of juice off of his neck, grumbling in his throat when he tasted pomegranate, "Ohh... is Big Bad Wolf becoming Persephone?" he breathed, "What?" Derek slurred drunkenly, "I'll be Hades," Stiles breathed, a black flicker tuning in his eyes as he danced, "I'll be Lyacon, Odin, Anubis or Nemetona... I'll be anyone and anything you want," he breathed, slinging his arms around Derek's neck, _"What a big heart I have, the better to love you with, Little Red Riding Hood, even bad wolves can be good,"_ Derek's world was spinning and when he looked over the seats at the table he saw wolves wearing clothing and sipping tea, they were behaving rather respectfully, not at all like the humans in the background, the wolves even had on top hats and tiaras.... "How peculiar and impossible," he breathed, _"Little Red Riding Hood, you sure are looking good, you're everything that a Big Bad Wolf could want,"_ "Aww it's over," Stiles pouted, tugging gently on Derek and forcing him to turn his attention back to him, "Derek your wolfy is showing," Derek just blinked at him slowly, not quite comprehending him, "Deeeeereeek....." Stiles sang, baring his teeth and growling playfully, trying to make him get the message, instead he just leaned down and bumped their noses together, "Grrr back at you," he growled lowly, "OH!! You're so DRUUUUNK!!" Stiles laughed hysterically, grabbing the nearest chalice of water and dumping it over Derek's head, seeming to shock atleast some sense back into him, "Why'd you do that?" he groaned, his features shrinking back to normalcy as he nudged Stiles and stepped carefully over the flowers on the table, "You got druuuuuuuunk~" Stiles laughed, "I did?" Derek gasped, "But I haven't even had a drunk... a drank... a drink... what? How does that go?" he muttered, "You so ARE!" Stiles giggled, gasping suddenly as well, "Maybe I'M a little drunk, maybe we're BOTH a little drunk!" he proposed, Derek thought on this for a moment, walking around the table in slow circles as Stiles watched him, pacing back and forth and back and forth, "Do you feel like throwing up yet?" he asked bluntly, "Um... no?" "Then you're not drunk, funny enough werewolves can't even GET drunk... I think... thank...thunk? Think..." "We are NOT normal Derek.... this is NOT normal..." Stiles accused, Derek looked around and grinned, "Wonderland," he said simply, twirling on his toes and grabbing Stiles' hands, "Wonderland! It's such a Wodnerlandifull place don't you think? It can do ALL of the magic things," he hummed, "It's pretty great when it isn't trying to kill you," Stiles giggled, "It's hattastic," Derek said with an approving nod, "Wonderlandian speakage, I should teach you the words of my people," "They're NOT your people Derek oh my God you lived here for like five minutes," Stiles snorted, "They could be my people.... my mom was an ALICE Stiles, an ALICE! They are SO my people, and I should teach you the language of my people so that the queen will not be off with your head because I hear- and this is just rumors- I hear that hurts," he commented, Stiles giggled, pulling Derek closer and hugging him loosely, "I bet I've had worse," he snorted, "No way," Derek promised, Stiles twitched his lips and wrinkled his nose, pulling back a bit, "Well as long as we're in Wonderland... can I say something crazy?" "I love crazy!" Derek smiled, Stiles nodded, rubbing the back of his neck, "Well it's just.... all my life has been a series of doors in my face, and then suddenly I bumped into you," Derek smiled even brighter, "I was thinking the same thing! 'Cause like, I've been searching my whole life to find my own place, and maybe it's the party talking, or the chocolate fondue," he paused and grabbed a strawberry from the table, dipping it in the pot of chocolate and slipping it into Stiles' mouth, the witch laughed around it, biting half and giving Derek the other half, _**"But with you,"** "I found my place,"_ **"I see your face!" _"And it's nothing like I've ever known before,"_** they paused as Derek licked the spot of chocolate from Stiles' lips and pulled him closer, _**"Love is an open door! Love is an open door! Love is an open door!"**_ they laughed hysterically, spinning and jumping around the table wile keeping their hands clasped together, _"With you~"_ **"With you!"** _"With you!" **"With you!" _"Love is an open door..."_** they grinned and Derek twirled him across the table, making Stiles break into hysterics again as he nearly fell off the table, only for Derek to pull him back to his feet, "I mean it's crazy," Derek laughed as he pulled him up, "What?" "We finish eachother's-" "Sandwiches!" "That's not ANYTHING like I was going to say oh my God Stiles..." **"I've never met someone who thinks so much like me!"** he sang, not missing a beat, Derek just dragged him closer, pressing him to his chest as they swayed across the table, _**"Our mental synchronization can have but one explanation, you and I are just meant to be,"**_ "Say goodbye..." _"Say goodbye!" **"To the pain of the past, we don't have to feel it anymore!"**_ Derek spun him again but was carefull this time to keep Stiles' hand firmly in his to prevent him from sliding off the table (or almost off the table) a third time, they sang and danced ridiculously with eachother for what felt like an eternity but when Derek noticed Stiles starting to breathe more heavily he stopped, keeping him pressed close in his arms before tapping their heads together and biting his lip, "Can I say something crazy?" "Oh God please yes," Stiles breathed, "Will you marry me?" Derek smiled, Stiles' eyes lit up and he threw his arms around Derek's neck, "YES! Oh my God YES! I'm engaged in Wonderland this is Wonderlandifull!" Derek laughed loudly and kissed him again, picking him up this time and spinning on the heel of his foot across the table, "You're even learning the language, you're going to fit right in with all of your morbid curiosity and inabilities to shut up, you always sound like you're speaking jibberish anyway," "Oh my God RUDE! What a way to talk to your future bride Derek! You primordial caveman!" "Aren't cavemen the thing these days?" he asked, chewing his lip again, "Your poor abused lips..." "You're one to talk, you're the WORST, I picked it up from you," Derek accused, Stiles just purred, leaning closer, "I'm gonna abuse them in an entirely different way..." he hummed, nipping Derek's bottom lip, "That sounded so much worse than what I think you had in mind," he mumbled, "I always aim for the worst," Stiles giggled, pushing Derek back slightly until he stumbled and fell onto the table, "Ouch.... God you're rough..." Derek mumbled as Stiles crawled on top of him, "Yeah?" he laughed, "You like that baby?" something in Derek froze and he felt a chill run through his veins, even though his mind was three sheets to the wind he still felt the all too familiar sinking in his stomach as his mind tried to spin, but with the sluggishness in his head it was fighting a losing battle, "Stiles?" he asked breathlessly, "Don't call me baby... ever.... please...." Stiles stared at him, a little confused until realization apparently hit him, his eyes growing wide and atleast a layer of the haze in his mind vanishing at once, "Oh my God.... oh my God is that what she used to call you? I'm so stupid.... Derek... Derek I'm sorry, please, don't freak out... I'm so so sorry Boo... oh God..." he groaned, Derek shook his head, leaning up and nuzzling against Stiles' chest, grabbing his shirt with his teeth and pulling at it as he pressed his cheek against bare skin, "It's ok... I'm ok.... I'm Wonderland'ed up... I can't... but just.... I won't be forever, so... please do-" "No no, yeah, absolutely never again, is that... I mean... are there any others you-" "Uh-uh, I didn't.... I wasn't even sure if.... I've never had anything except that Stiles, I don't know what she broke exactly with me and I don't know how it can be fixed but-" "I'll be carefull," "No... don't treat me like glass ok? Witches... I hear witches have a thing.... like... they think shapeshifters are their pets sometimes.... like we're made of thin veils and breakables.... I'm not a lap dog, please don-" "Hey... it's ok Derek, I swear to God, I'll never do anything you don't want me to do ok?" he asked softly, Derek nodded and ran his teeth against Stiles' neck and for a moment Stiles almost felt sober, between Derek's reaction and the punch to the gut that was his unintentional reminder of Danny's words from the night before he felt like his mind had been put through a meat grinder, it was just unsettling enough to make the laughter of the druggy fog in his head fade back and bring his mind atleast partly out of the dark, "Hey, Derek? Hey... look at me huh?" he said breathlessly, cupping Derek's face and forcing him to look at him, he shuddered at the sudden memory of how Derek had flinched away from him days- was it really days?- ago when they had taken him from the dungeon, all that pain bottled up there, and it made Stiles want to retch, "I don't ever want to see those pretty kaleidoscope eyes of your's looking at me the way you did then, I always want to see them looking at me like this from now on," "Like I'm high?" he asked quietly, "Yeah... like you're high, 'cause I always want you to be high on me," Stiles confirmed, "I always want you to see light when you look at me so if I ever ever do anything to make that light blip out or fade... please please please tell me so I can fix it ok?" Derek nodded slowly, seeming to take this seriously even though his eyes were still glazed over like frosting on a dessert, "Ok... ok I promise," "Good," Stiles groaned, grabbing a rather random looking pastry from the table (How anything was left on it was a miracle all in it's own right) and pinching off small peices at a time to carefully feed to Derek, something felt off all of a sudden and it wasn't just a slight wave of unusualness anymore, it was a nagging feeling in his head that wouldn't go away, "I can hear you thinking Stiles, stop thinking," Derek groaned as he leaned forward and bit Stiles' fingers playfully, causing the witch to yelp and jerk his hand back, Derek, highly amused by this, broke into laughter again and rolled onto his back, his eyes crinkling and his nose twitching as his chest heaved from the joyfull sound, Stiles smiled, slinging a leg over his hips and straddling him, "I love your laugh, it's so so pretty when it's sincere," he purred, running his hands over Derek's chest, "Really?" "Yeah, really," "I don't like it, but it makes you happy so I'll learn to," Derek hummed softly, "How can you not like your laugh Sweetheart? You are just the most beautifull creature to ever BREATHE do you know that? Your laugh and your smile and your rainbow eyes and every single other part of you... it's all so pretty," "Pretty?" Derek snorted, "You're so PRETTY Derek oh my God do you not UNDERSTAND that?" Stiles huffed, slapping his leg playfully and making Derek laugh again, "I don't think most people would use 'pretty'," Derek shrugged, leaning up and pulling Stiles down closer, "Well those people are idiots," he grumbled, kissing Derek's lips, the werewolf purred lowly and ran his hands over Stiles' back, nipping his lip and starting to trail kisses down his neck, "D-Derek... I don't think... ah... this is a good idea..." "It IS a good idea isn't it?" Derek hummed, clearly very proud of himself, "N-No ... no you've got it wrong.... I feel like we're forgetting something VERY important," Stiles sighed, "What could we be forgetting? If we've forgotten it it can't be that important to begin with," Derek reasoned, "No... it's important I just know it..." Stiles muttered, Derek grumbled back and Stiles sighed, deciding to accept defeat, his brain clearly wasn't in the mood to catch up with him right now so as long as it was playing keep away with his memories he might as well enjoy his fiance's attention, and Stiles sort of had to laugh at that, that word.... he shivered and looked up as Derek started kissing along his shoulder, and when he looked up he saw someone else running their hands down someone's neck... only... these hands were spreading something red.. and for a moment Stiles thought it was more pomegranate juice, but it was darker and thicker and.... "We should do that," Derek mumbled, "Do what?" Stiles breathed, "Put candles in the water, later," Stiles turned around to see what he was talking about and sure enough there were candles being placed in the water, small ones in little jars that floated across the sea, following behind a large white box... and come to think of it, he saw another of those large white boxes across from them... he looked up, seeing the woman with the red on her neck being placed inside one, and then, all at once, everything clicked, "Oh God..." Stiles breathed, "Stiles?" "They're killing people..." he breathed, "What?" "D-Derek.... Derek.... Derek we have to go! We have to go NOW!" he screamed, stumbling to get off of the table and pull Derek with him, "What? Stiles no.... it's just your mind playing tricks on you..." "No Derek, YOUR mind is playing tricks on YOU!" "Sti-" "PLEASE!" he begged, "Come with me! Please Derek!" he shouted, the werewolf really was quite positive that Stiles was just freaking out, thinking he saw something he didn't, but he wasn't going to argue with him, it was much more important to leave the tea party and let Stiles come back to his senses than it was to try to talk him down when he was upset and do nothing to remove him from the situation, so, wordlessly, Derek nodded and let Stiles pull him away, the two of them breaking into a run as they entered the dark forest up ahead_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs included are:
> 
> Flames And Glasses - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBOKHUyfUPo  
> Love Is Strange - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSaAp5MhRaI  
> Little Red Riding Hood- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw9UmjJJLK4  
> Love Is An Open Door- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPImqZo0D74
> 
> Because if you thought we were getting out of here without a Frozen song you were sorely mistaken
> 
> Fun fact, this is actually my favorite chapter ever, there's nothing like Sterek getting unintentionally high on Wonderland flowers!


	20. Kissing Frogs (Or Foxes)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there was a coyote who loved a fox so much, that she wished to change who- and what- she was just to be with her...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Warning: This chapter contains descriptions of death and execution by hanging, if this bothers you please skip to the end or avoid entirely** it's only in one scene (the second paragraph) but it's mentioned again later on, however **the italicized paragraphs are A-OK**
> 
> I'm actually very sad about the Malira backstory because it's mostly centered on Malia- and that's nice in it's own way but you don't _understand_ how much I wanted to do a backstory centered on Kira's POV about her learning how to lead her skulk very Mulan style with the fighting montages and stuff but sadly I 1. Never found the right place for it 2. Never could get the actual plot for it together in my head 3. Suck horribly at fight scenes as you will later learn, just know that in my head there's something totally awesome Kira did to get where she is today.. I just don't know quite what it is...

_Once upon a time Liam and I were all alone, we'd lost our parents when we were very young to the hunters and decided to live as coyotes, we lived that way for several years, obviously we couldn't keep track of exactly how long, and it wasn't great, but it was good enough, we weren't happy but we were safe, well... as safe as any coyote... we were surviving and that was what mattered all until it wasn't, one day in our travels we came across a lone fox kit, I wanted to leave it- make sure we kept moving and didn't stop for anyone or anything, but Liam... Liam wanted to help it back to it's mother, on our way towards the nearest foxhole the kit suddenly got away from us, sprinting towards a girl with flowing black hair and the most gentle eyes I'd ever seen, it only took a moment for me to realize that she was a kistune, and it only took a minute for me to come to the conclusion that I was completely in love, ofcourse, the thing is, that being in love wasn't the plan, there was nothing good that could have come of that, so at first I tried to avoid her, I tried to get away from the area as soon as I could, but the hunters had gotten word of some werewolves in the area and were being even more vigilant than usual, I had to be carefull, I had to be... extremely carefull, and so we were stuck there for a wile, I used to spend what little free time I had watching the foxhole and the kitsune who would emerge from it more often than all of the others, she used to train constantly, with her body, with her fire, with her blade, with anything from daggers to tree limbs, and I would watch, mesmerized, as she did, until one day I realized that the hunters were starting to thin out, my brother and I would be leaving soon and I didn't want to leave, I realized that the hunters never bothered the kitsune and her skulk no matter how much noise she made or how many fires she started, and I thought, maybe Liam and I would be safe there with her, maybe we could even take on our human forms there with her, but the thought occured to me, a fox would never accept a coyote into her skulk, a fox would never want anything to do with a coyote at all, why would she? I realized that to get a fox, I would have to **become** a fox, and when I decided that I would- decided that I could make that change for her- I ran into the mountains and followed a trail, towards a witch that was rumored to grant wishes for all those who asked..._

~+~

"Derek...!? DEREK!?" Stiles shouted, cursing under his breath as he looked around, as soon as they had entered the forest and gotten away from the druggy haze of wherever they had been before he had gotten lost, he had turned around and Derek had been gone and now he was in this dark, black-hole of a forest all alone, or atleast it felt that way, he wasn't exactly sure what had caused the druggy daze but if he had to guess he'd say it was the flowers, he had heard something a long time ago about certain Wonderland flowers being hallucinogens but he couldn't remember much about it and even if he could he hadn't gotten a good enough look at the flowers to really figure out what they were, "DEREK!!!" he shouted again, "Hello Stiles," he turned quickly, swallowing and feeling his heart jump, "Danny? How did you get here?" He asked in confusion, "The faery brought me the shard of the Looking Glass, I figured this was where Mr. Wonderland thought of when you two jumped," he hummed, Stiles sighed, ofcourse he did, "Have you seen Derek?" Danny frowned, a grim look crossing his face, "Stiles... I'm sorry," "What? .. S-Sorry about what?" He asked quietly, Danny placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, "Derek was captured," "What? By who!?" "We aren't in Wonderland anymore, you passed out on your way back but..." "But what?" he frowned, Danny took a deep breath, "We're outside of the castle now... I was able to get us away with my magic but I could only take one person as I was casting the spell and-" "You took Jackson.." Stiles finished for him, inhaling deeply, "I can understand that, so, we've gotta go back to the dungeons huh? Alright, easy enough, just go-" "Stiles," he interrupted, "I'm afraid you misunderstood, they weren't taken to the prison cells... they were taken to the gallows," Stiles stared at him, stomach churning, "Then why the hell are we waiting!?" he screamed, "I couldn't go any further with you passed out, you weigh me down remember? I've been stuck here until you woke up," Stiles shook his head, swallowing and sprinting forward, he wasn't even sure where but he saw the castle up ahead and booked it faster, panting and sweating and coming to a sudden stop when he passed through the crowd and looked up, watching them tighten the noose around Derek's neck, "D-D...Derek...?" he breathed, the lever was pulled back before he could move and the pannel beneath Derek's feet dropped, Stiles didn't know what was worse, hearing the snap of his neck breaking, or seeing him stop moving, either way, it felt like his entire world stopped moving, seeing him hanging there, Stiles tilted, falling to the ground and letting out a gut-wrenching, ear peircing scream of agony

~+~

"So you went to Danny to get turned into a kitsune?" Scott asked with furrowed brows, trying to understand, Malia sighed and nodded, looking down, "Something like that, except it didn't go as planned..."

_"Hello?" I called out as I stepped into the cave, "What can I do for you my dear?" "Are you the witch that lives up here?" from the shadows he rose, walking towards me with a small grin on his face, "I am, what is it you wish?" "I... wish to become a fox," "A fox?" he hummed lowly as he stared at me, "You don't look at all like a fox to me.... more like a coyote.... why would you want to give that up to become a fox?" "I..." I paused, what could I say? That I was in love with someone who I had never met? Someone who didn't even know I existed? "Let me guess, you're doing it for the pure, unbridled magic of ~true love~ aren't you?" I nodded, not knowing how else to answer, "And your mate is a fox?" "Yes, a kitsune," "Ahhhh a kitsune.... a trickster spirit just like a coyote.... well now that shouldn't be too hard at all to do, just changing one trickster for another," he mused, snapping his fingers and summoning a contract, he set it down on the table behind me and stepped in front of me, "Are you SURE you want to become a fox?" I thought of the kitsune and how my heart stuttered for her, but more importantly I thought of my brother, of how long we had been living alone in the woods, of how long it had been since the last time I donned this human skin, and I thought of what it could mean to be part of a pack again, even if that pack was a skulk, and I said "Yes," and when he picked up the contract again I signed it without hesitation, "Now just shake my hand and seal the deal, come on and shake a poor sinner's hand," he grinned, I shook his hand and gasped as red and blue smoke swirled around me, blending into purple and overtaking me, you see what I hadn't realized at the time- what I had forgotten in my time as a coyote- was that magic took everything literally, when the witch asked if I wanted to become a fox, I assumed we were on the same understanding that I wanted to become a **kitsune** , or any fox-shifter really, I hadn't thought to phrase it differently and instead of becoming a fox-shifter like I thought.... he turned me into a plain old fox... when I first left the cave I was still under the impression that I could shift if I needed to, but by the time I got to the foxhole where the kitsune always was, I realized that that wasn't true, and that I had made a terrible, terrible mistake...._

~+~

"Stiles!!" Derek shouted, taking a breath and stepping forward, "Stiles!!!" "Yeah?" he spun around, frowning slightly when he saw Stiles standing right behind him, something was off about him, off about his stance, "I've been calling for you... what happened?" "Sorry, I got lost and distracted, you ok there Baby?" he smiled, Derek swallowed, "Yeah... let's just get out of here, this place gives me the creeps," "REALLY Mr. Wonderland?" he snorted, clapping Derek on the back as they started walking, "It's BECAUSE I've been in Wonderland that I fear it so, I know how horrible it can be, I know the deep dark corners of it and the sludge it can produce," he said, spinning suddenly on his heel and catching Stiles' hand wrist in his hand, squeezing until Stiles was forced to drop the dagger he was holding, "Mm... perceptive Mr. Wolf," he purred, grinning his eyes turned black, "You aren't Stiles," he sneered, Stiles cocked his head, "What? Ofcourse I am, I'm just not the Stiles you know, you know a false me, I've always intended this Derek, you've only been a means to an end, never really wanted you, never really lov-" he choked as Derek wrapped a hand around his throat and slammed him into a tree, punching him roughly in the face for good measure, "You. Aren't. Stiles." the creature coughed, starting to give up the fight, "Really now? What gave me away?" it breathed, "Stiles would never call me 'baby'...... not... not after... he just wouldn't," he said firmly, squeezing harder as the creature choked louder, Derek closed his eyes and flinched wen he heard the neck snap and when he opened his eyes again he found himself laying in the middle of the forest with Stiles passed out beside him, taking a breath, he cursed and leaned over, starting to shake Stiles roughly, calling out to him desperately, and hoping urgently that he would wake up soon

~+~

"But... you're turned back now, didn't you break the spell?" Braeden asked curiously, "You would think, wouldn't you?" she said with a huff of a laugh, shaking her head, "But it was replaced with something much worse...."

_The first time I went to see the beautifull kitsune from the foxhole I ran there, I ran as fast as I could, down the mountain and through the woods and bounding towards her scent, wich had changed slightly now that I was a fox, it had somehow become better than it was before, I sprinted ever closer and when she spotted me she set down her sword and crouched forward, she spoke happily, ran her fingers through my fur, and when I attempted to shift back... nothing happened... I tried over and over again to force my bones to obey me but they sat stagnant as if I was doing nothing at all, she was certain that I was just a simple fox, and for days she treated me just as that, and then one day something was different, one day she emerged from the foxhole... as a fox herself, she had shapeshifted, so I tried to talk to her and I hoped against hope that she could understand me, it was so strange hearing myself make the odd chirping noises that foxes make when I was so used to howling and growling, but to my releif we understood eachother, I explained that I was stuck in that body, that I too could shapeshift, and she resolved to help me find a way to get back to myself, we tried for days, for weeks, for months, we never figured anything out, but we got closer, so close in fact that she asked me to stay with her as part of her skulk, so close in fact that we could even say we were in love... and one day, she kissed me, it was just a normal day, we were relaxing in a feild nearby and she was talking, she leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on my muzzle... and then poof, in a puff of violet smoke I was me again, a human again, we embraced, we smiled, we laughed, and I thought that was it, the price was paid, the curse was broken, I felt certain now that be I a fox or a coyote Kira would accept me.... many weeks later, after Liam and I started living here, the three of us decided to go for a run, and I turned into neither a fox nor a coyote, I turned into something that I have no word for..._

~+~

"Stiles, you need to let go," Danny said softly as he gripped Stiles' shoulder, the witch shook his head, clutching on to Derek's body even tighter and taking a shaking breath in, "I... I can't ... this is all my fault..." he breathed, "Yeah, it is," Danny confirmed, causing Stiles to flinch, "Stiles, don't you want revenge?" he paused, not moving an inch, "You could have it you know, you and I, we could take down the hunters together, the humans... together, we could destroy them all Stiles," he swallowed, staring down at Derek in his arms and squeezing tighter, "I could teach you how to control the darkness and make it your own," "I just want Derek back," he breathed, "I know, but that's an impossible thing, you'll feel better if you just turn it off, turn into the empty like I did, become what you are deep down, become who you've always been meant to be... and conquer with me," Stiles thought about that for a moment, "We would destroy... ALL humans?" he asked quietly, "Yes Stiles, all humans, just take my hand and we can do this, together, get revenge for our lost loves... together..." Stiles swallowed, reluctantly moving Derek's body away from him and drawing the dagger from his pocket, "I could make it stop hurting...? Make them pay for what they've done?" Danny gave a slow nod and extended his hand, and Stiles reached forward, hand hovering over Danny's when suddenly he jerked away and slashed his throat, blood spraying over the ground and himself as he dragged the blade down from the sorcerer's skin, "I can't destroy ALL humans, I can't destroy my dad or Scott or his mom, sorry, they're off limits, and whoever they claim... Scott seems so fond of the Argent girl... I couldn't take that from him, but the rest of the hunters? The rest of the royals? Yeah..." he tightened his grip on the blade, "I'll make sure that they burn," he seethed, watching as Danny finally stopped struggling and his body gave out, and just like that Stiles gasped, jerking upwards and eyes flying open as he stared at the dark trees around them, his hands shook and his body trembled and his ears were ringing horribly, he could barely hear the voice beside him but it was growing louder and louder, slowly but surely growing louder and louder, "-iles..... St.... le... Stiles..... Stiles... Stiles..! Stiles! STILES!" he finally looked over, heart pounding as he stared at Derek's worried face, "Stiles? Are yo-" he groaned, the witch flinging himself into Derek's arms and squeezing him tightly, panting and huffing desperately as Derek slowly wrapped his arms around his back, hugging Stiles closely, neither said a word, they just breathed, clung to eachother... and breathed....

~+~

"Wait a minute, that doesn't make any sense," Lydia frowned, "I replaced that contract, you should have reverted back into being a coyote," "You what?" Danny frowned, she shrugged, "Malia was the one client you had wile I was, you know, _imprisoned_ , I wasn't just going to let you run amuck and torture people, so when you set the contract down I changed it," "Changed it how?" Malia frowned, "I simply wrote in a clause, faery magic can't break spells, but it can sure change them, I just wrote in that instead of staying a fox forever- like this one was going to try to do to you- you would change back into your true form upon recieving true love's first kiss, cliche' I know but I was working on a matter of seconds so creativity wasn't my goal," "Wait... so you said her 'true form'... you didn't specify a were-coyote," Danny pointed out, "That's...... true....." Lydia said slowly, "Well that explains it," Boyd sighed, "What? I don't understand..." Lydia frowned, "Shapeshifters aren't always born into the shape they're meant to take, you see it's easier when you're bitten, all that's transferred is the shapeshifting gene, but when you're born a shapeshifter you also adopt the gene of whatever animal your parents took the form of, a wolf, a fox, .. a coyote, but just because that's the form you're born into doesn't mean it's also the one that you're most connected with," he explained, "Uh-huh..." Lydia said slowly, "So what are you then?" Scott asked curiously, "A frog maybe?" Jackson teased, Malia frowned deeply, eyebrows nitting as she stepped forward and a familiar white glow started to envelope her, "No... I'm whatever... _THIS_ is..."

~+~

"What was all that?" Stiles asked after a wile of walking with Derek, leaned fully into him and gripping him tightly, "That was the Frightfull Forest, once you step into it you pass out and experience your worst nightmare, unless you can kill the thing causing it, so if, for example, your nightmare was about being eaten by a snake-" "Kill the snake and get out, right, and if you didn't?" "If not you'd be stuck in your nightmare for an eternity... or... until it eventually killed you," "Right... until it kills you," Stiles mumbled, Derek swallowed and pulled him closer, Stiles didn't offer to talk about it and he didn't ask, some things were just too private, too personal to share, he understood that, hell he wasn't exactly going to talk about his either, some things should just be left alone... "Thank God we're out of there," Stiles sighed with releif the moment they crossed out of the forest and into the sun, "Yeah, I agree," Derek muttered, a loud laughter filled the air and they both turned around, seeing a man with blonde hair and sporting wickedly long black claws and a mouth full of pointed teeth walking towards them, "You'll wish you were back in the forest when I'm done with you, get them Violet! They smell delicious!" he cackled, Stiles gasped, feeling something wrap around him and turning his head to see a hefty purple rope wrapping it's self around him, "Stand. DOWN. Cheshire!" Derek shouted, from seemingly no where a young woman, dark skinned with long black hair, appeared, "Ohh... why HELLO Son Of Alice!" she giggled, grinning a massive grin and showing off her sharp little teeth as a tail suddenly apparated behind her and began to swish, "Seriously? Come on... what is it with people in this world and sharp teeth?" Stiles groaned, the woman- Violet- ignored him entirely, purring lowly in her gut as she circled around Derek, "Or shouldn't I call you.... Eighty-Five?" she breathed, the fur of her tail standing on end, "I won't be an Alice," he sneered, she let out a low wimperish sound, swaying as she walked, "Oh... but you'd be so GOOD at it, and Alices... they're so much FUN! They're my FAVORITE mice to catch!" she laughed, "Around and around the Alices go... when will they climb a tree? Only after being chased by a cat like me!" she giggled, "Silly Alice, tricks are for kids," the man chuckled, "And that's enough jabber out of you too!" Derek snapped, "Ohh.... Alice can bite! Perhaps he's taken a lesson from the Crocodile! Tik-Tok, Tik-Tok, stop the clock and make him talk!" Violet hummed, "What do you know of Neverland?" Derek frowned, "Ohh... well what do you think we know Jabber?" she purred, reaching out to poke Derek's cheek, the werewolf leaned back and out of her reach, glaring, "Neverland? Never heard of a land of never, now EVERland, ever the trick that one, full of a trickster, a shadow that could be my freind, would get along FINE with us, don't you think Chesh?" he hummed, "Ohhh YES Garrett! Chaos has come again and we all blend into the shadows like fog on a moonlit night, if only we still had the pirate," she said with a heavy sigh, "Mmm ... the hooked one or the scarred one?" "Well the scarred one ofcourse, he's the one who provided my sacrifice, oh I do so LOVE my sacrificial kitties, they pledge to me so fully every year," she giggled, "Am I missing out on an inside joke?" Stiles muttered under his breath, "Yes except it's not a joke and it isn't funny, a few centuries ago the Cheshire Cat managed to get a few people to pledge themselves to her and they make human sacrifices every year to maintain power and immortality, Cheshire reaps the souls and gives them to the Red Queen, terrible process, do NOT get involved," Stiles wrinkled his nose, "Ew..." he grumbled, there were really too many human sacrifices going around... "Don't you have a Mad Hatter to pester?" Derek snapped again, finally drawing the attention of the two, "Oh that's right! Deucalion misses you," Violet purred, "He said you ran away like you'd lost your head, but you haven't yet, that's the queen's job," Garrett added, "Your freind the Mad Hatter was murdering people and getting us all high on Wonderland pollen!" Stiles spat, the two stared at him as if he had just said something as obvious and simple as "The sky is blue", "What in the world is your point dearie?" Violet asked obliviously, Stiles groaned and rolled onto the balls of his feet, "Can you PLEASE untie me now?" "Mmm... if I obey and untie won't you just go 'bye-bye'~?" she purred, "YES, our intention is to go bye-bye, WAY bye-bye, leave this crazy murdering hell hole in oblivion and go to a world where atleast it's clear what the evil people want," he groaned, Derek hissed and cringed, "You shouldn't have said that," he grunted, "What? Why?" "Ohh... we can't let you do that," Garrett hummed as he stepped forward, placing a claw beneath Stiles' chin and tilting his head up, "I haven't eaten yet, and your fear smells simply delicious," he growled, "Our FEAR? What the hell are you?" he hissed, Garrett grinned, letting out a breathy laugh, "Me? Haven't you heard? Why... I'm the Jabberwocky,"

~+~

"Alright," John sighed, "I'm stumped, go on and tell me, what is she?" he asked, staring down at the new form that Malia had taken, the animal was considerably large with a trail of huge black stripes across her lower back and tail, her head and face resembled a dog's to a degree with rounded ears and a small but still canine-looking muzzle, she sported a long tail and a small slope to her back, and overall, no one was quite sure what to make of her, "I don't believe it..." Lydia breathed, "Malia.... you're a Thylacine... a Tasmanian Tiger..." "A what?" Scott asked, "It's... I don't know how to explain it, they used to be extremely rare, but I thought they'd gone extinct decades ago... they come from a very far away island and... humans, hunted them down until there were none left... but there used to be a rumor in Atlantis, a rumor that shapeshifters- those who were TRULY gifted and had a spirit bonded closer to nature than most others, could shift into animals that are no longer around, or that the shapeshifter gene has stopped breeding, Tassies were the most commonly believed holders of this myth, well, Tassies and Boto, a type of dolphin that live in rivers, Boto are still around but it's long been believed by the aquatic community that their shapeshifter relatives died out, mersharks and weresharks almost followed that lead, it took the efforts of merfolk and every mammalian aquatic shapeshifter- from the selkies to the Encantado's salt-water cousin and the beings of the Akashic libraries- to help them an-" "Woah woah WOAH," John interrupted, a tired look on his face, "Lydia... hun.... you are going WAY above my pay-grade of understanding what the hell you're talking about... what, generally, does this mean?" She sighed, eyes rolling and shoulders slumping, "It MEANS that Malia is a rare and very important person, she's .. a very much needed gem to our people, Malia, you could help so much of our realm," she said softly, smiling and taking a step closer, Malia just growled, stepping back, "Malia? Why...? Show them your jaw, maybe then they'll understand what this could mean," she encouraged, Malia only growled louder, the familiar violet smoke filling the air as she shapeshifted back into human form, "Stop treating me like a new coat Lydia! I don't appreciate it!" she snarled, "A new...- I am NOT doing any such thing! You are IMPORTANT Malia! THIS is important!" "Well then take it and give it to someone else! I never asked for this, I don't want it! I want to be a coyote again! Can you do that Lydia? Can you turn me back into what I once was!?" Lydia looked down and pursed her lips, "No... I can't... if this is your true form there's no way to give you back a ... a glamor of the past," "So you got what you wanted, but you lost what you had," Danny hummed thoughtfully, Malia turned to him again, growling lowly, "Malia... it's ok, really... maybe whatever this.. is... maybe Lydia can help you with it, she seems to know about it," Liam proposed, "I've learned to control it, I just want to be like I was..." she said softly, Liam stared at her, inhaling deeply, "Then put me under the same spell," he said, stepping forward, "What?" Lydia breathed, "You heard me, I want to be in my true form too," he said, grabbing Malia's hand, "Malia is my sister, she's watched out for me all this time, she's had my back, and now I need to have her's, so go ahead spell-casters, and cast a spell on me,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Malia's transformation is totally inspired by Freinds On The Other Side https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZAY-78zhmw


	21. If I Can't Love Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time there was a beast who fell in love with the darkness, and the darkness fell in love with him too....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, the title is from Broadway's Beauty & The Beast and based on the song "If I Can't Love Her" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMXR_4_gX84

"You want to be like Malia," Lydia stated slowly, trying to make sure she had this understood correctly, Liam swallowed, nodding firmly, "Can you do that?" Lydia sighed, shaking her head slowly, "If you're asking me to place a temporary glamor that will wear off with time, then sure, but if you want the real deal, the actual change... then no, not under these circumstances, faery magic is very finicky, most of our transformations are just temporary glamors, but when we conduct REAL transformations, it requires alot of work... and it requires heavy spells, spells that require things in return, I hate using that kind of magic because there's so much uncertainty," "You did it for Malia," he argued, "Because the alternative was WORSE, she was going to be changed into something else anyway I just provided her with a way back, the kind of spell you're asking for would require either having a curse put in front of it and the spell as a clause- like I did with Malia, or ... a price," "What kind of price?" Malia asked slowly, "Something not easily paid, like your dreams or your sense of time or... your voice, for example," she said, glaring across at Danny, who merely shrugged in response, "You can't take any of those things," Malia insisted, "That's EXACTLY what I'm trying to say," Lydia nodded, "What about... hair? Would hair work?" Cora asked slowly, Lydia snorted softly, "It'd have to be an AWFULL lot of hair," she replied, Cora grinned, pulling her long hair over her shoulder to display it to her, "I can sacrifice it for him right?" Lydia shook her head, "Technically you could but I'm not advanced yet in that kind of magic, I'm still very new to all of this, I'm still used to just practicing what little magic merfolk are born with, if I attempted a spell like that it could get really dangerous for everyone involved," "So it's hopeless?" Liam asked sadly, "Not quite," Danny smirked, stepping closer, "I could always grant a wish for you, if you asked,"

~+~

"YOU'RE the Jabberwocky? But I thought the Jabberwocky was some sort of... monster," Stiles said in confusion, "You flatter me," Garrett said with a grin, "You should know of all people that sometimes the most wicked of monsters come in the prettiest of packages," Derek sighed, "Are you calling me beautifull or hideous? It's so hard to tell with you Upperworlders," Garrett hummed, "I'm calling you beastly," Derek said non-chalantly, "You've inherited your mother's manners, Son Of Alice, it's a dread," he chuckled, "And a PLEASURE listening to you jabber on," Derek returned, Garrett's nose wrinkled and he huffed, "Well aren't we feeling delightfull today?" "About as toxic as baked cherries thanks," Derek hummed back, Stiles groaned, staring up at the sky, "My brain hurts," he grumbled, "I could handle that for you," Violet offered, apparating behind him and making him shreik, "Oh MY goodness! It looks like you have a scratch on your hand!" she gasped dramatically, Derek stiffened, going pale, "Huh? Oh... yeah I must have pricked it on a thorn somewhere in the woods.. or maybe at that tea party..." he muttered, "I'll heal it for you, it'll just take ONE little lick," Violet grinned widely, her eyes shifting to the narrow pupils of a cat's, Derek stepped in front of Stiles, arms held behind him protectively as he braced his back against the witch, "You don't want to do that," he said quickly, "Ohhh, but I DO Son Of Alice, I so very much do," she purred loudly, "No, you don't.... he's .... he's.... been snacking on cherry tarts, his blood's all sugar now, you know what that will do to you," he said quickly, "Oh yes... blood sugar is such a terrible taste... and it makes me so sluggish too..." she hummed, smirking at Derek, "BUT I don't recall your blood being very sweet at all, young Son Of Alice, as I recall, you're quite a sour person aren't you?" "I've sweetened," he claimed quickly, shooting Stiles a worried glance, "I've fallen madly and badly in love... werewolves turn sweet when they fall in love, isn't that right ... _Sugar_?" he breathed nervously, Stiles blinked, catching on and nodding quickly, "Y-Yeah! Yeah, Derek my ... beautifull violet gumdrop... he's like the sweetest person EVER now, really gag-worthy, so much sweet, it's like... sugar cubes!" he laughed nervously, "Thank you _Cupcake_ ," "You're welcome.... Peppermint," Derek cringed internally and squeezed his eyes shut, they had come so close.... yet reasonably he knew he really wasn't fooling anyone with the pet names... "I'm very sweet, you could taste and find out but if you did that it might ruin your entire evening," "It's morning..." Stiles muttered, "Shut up no it isn't," Derek grunted quickly, Violet purred and stalked around between them for a moment, circling like a shark, "I wouldn't fancy that at all.. but there is one way to test my theory, I could just cut you both open and see if sugar crystals are in your blood," she said brightly, "You don't want to do that either," Derek said quickly, "And why not?" "Would you really want to risk scratching your future Alice?" he breathed, Stiles jerked, staring at him worriedly, he wasn't sure if Derek was making a commitment or not.. but it sounded like he was, "Eighty Five?" She breathed, her entire body lighting up with a violet glow- so _that's_ why they called her Violet...- as cat ears and claws sprouted from her body, "OH! We could have so much fun together! I do love my Alices so! Would you fall down a hole for me Eighty Five?" she breathed, "For you Chesh? I'd fall down two," Derek breathed unsteadily, Violet bit her lip, placing her claw against Derek's chest, "Well now... what would you do with your magician pet?" she hummed, "Alices don't uncommonly have companions... if I remember correctly... didn't the 32nd Alice travel with a genie?" he asked softly, "Mmmm .... and the genie was muuurdeeerreeed," she purred, "I would so love to be the murderer of your witch, Eighty-Fifth Alice," she purred, "Stiles won't be murdered," "Ohhh you say that now but you're so wrong, the 32nd Alice is the only one in all of Wonderland to do what she did, you know it, and I know it, you would end up like number 49 if you aren't carefull with your things," "Now now Cheshire, he IS the son of an Alice, he wouldn't be so careless, what will it be then, Son Of Alice? Will you be our long awaited 85th? Or will you go back to the Upperworld with your .... mated.... thing....?" Garrett asked with a smirk, Derek tensed and took a breath, "I-" "Neither," they heard, all looking up abruptly to see a set of twins standing behind them, both blonde, male, around Derek's age or younger, and smirking devilishly, "Ah, you two, what do you want then? Go and find a snake skin to play with, we're busy with the new Alice and his play thing," Violet hummed, "We've been sent by Her Majesty to retreive the Son Of Alice and his pet," said one twin, "We cannot simply leave them to you just yet," said the other, "Atleast let me taste their fear," Garrett said with a hum as he walked towards Stiles, "Afraid not," said one twin, "Then atleast let ME change them out of these dirty clothes, you can't present to the queen like this," Violet reasoned, "Well fought," conceded the other twin, Violet grinned wickedly and shredded Derek's clothes with her claws before snapping her fingers as the remaining scraps were replaced with completely new, clean clothes, she turned to Stiles, making a judgemental noise and doing the same before unwrapping the rope from around him, "Bye bye Son Of Alice!! We'll be waiting for your answer~!" Violet called, Derek swallowed uncomfortably and grabbed Stiles' hand, squeezing tightly, "Hey, don't worry man, Satomi is going to see us and help us get ou-" "We aren't going to see Satomi," he said quickly, "Wait... what?" Stiles asked as they followed the twins, "Satomi is the White Queen..... Ethan and Aiden work for the Red Queen...."

~+~

"No," Lydia said immediately, "Lyd-" "NO," she repeated, eyes narrowed and huffing in frustration, "I won't let you keep this up, I won-" "It's my decision to make, I want to be like my sister," Liam insisted, "There are other ways!" "Are there?" the mermaid looked pinched, tightening her jaw, "Have you heard ANY of the stories being told about all of this?" she growled, "Lydia, you have my word, I won't do anything nefarious, I'm on your side now," Danny said simply, "No Danny you're on YOUR side, you've always been on your own side, you've just been working next to us because it suits you," she growled, Danny shrugged, "Well I can't deny that... but it suits me to get another wish, and I promise, I won't do anything horrible," "Oh you 'promise'? Like you PROMISED me before?" she huffed, "Look, I want to do this ok? I want to be close with my sister again, I don't want to be an outsider anymore, I'm going to make this wish, even if you don't approve," "Liam think about what you're doing," Malia warned, "It's ok Sis, you're ok... I will be too, don't you miss it? Reading eachother's minds? Being in step with eachother?" Malia looked away, clearly guilt-ridden by her lack of enthusiasm for trying to talk her brother out of this, "Am I the only one here with common sense?" she groaned, "No, but once one of the twins gets an idea in their head they don't exactly leave it alone," Kira said softly, "Atleast he's far too out numbered to try anything right?" Braeden asked, Erica looked up, blinking slowly at her, "You must be new here," the vampire squinted, trying to understand why she said that when Danny leapt up, "Alright, shall we do this?" Liam nodded, stepping forward, "Wait," Lydia said, earning a collective groan from several people in the foxhole, "IF you absolutely have to do this... atleast make sure you don't screw it up," she said with a sigh, "Alright, how do I do this then?" Liam quizzed, "Make sure you're specific, don't say something like 'I wish I was a Tasmanian Tiger', it could lead to all sorts of things, and since we don't actually know what exactly Malia would be CALLED... you should try to aim away from listing a specific species," "How about 'I wish I was like my sister'?" he suggested, Lydia wrinkled her nose, "That might not go as well as you think..." "What about just taking a page from Lydia's book to begin with?" Jackson finally piped up, "'I wish I was in my true form~' and all that crap," he spat, "Eloquently put," the mermaid smirked sarcastically, Jackson just shrugged and Lydia gave a nod of approval, "That's probbably your best idea, being in your true form ... even if something goes wrong, atleast it's your true form right?" she reasoned, "Yeah... right," he swallowed, "You know you don't have to do this... right Liam?" Malia asked quietly, "I know but.. I want to, we may have been born werecoyotes, but if that isn't what we're meant to be.... I want to be what I'm meant to be," she looked down, nodding slowly as Liam stepped forward, "I wish I was in my true form," he announced, Danny grinned, snapping his fingers as a contract appeared, "Make sure you read that- thoroughly," Lydia instructed, Liam rolled his eyes and read through it- twice, just for insurance- before taking a deep breath and signing it, a moment later blue and black smoke began to surround him and blend and blend until it became a dark, inky indigo, and when the smoke finally faded Liam was in his true form, John stared, taking a deep, deep breath and exhaling slowly, "Alright.... what the hell is that?"

~+~

"Wait a second, THE Red Queen? As in, 'ragingly insane, painting flowers, _off with their heads_ ' Red Queen!?" Stiles shouted, "Ah you know her well," "Now isn't that swell?" the twins hummed from in front of them, Stiles narrowed his eyes, "Yeah, about that... what exactly is the deal with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum over here? I thought they were supposed to be.. well... different...?" they stopped moving, turning and frowning, "Do not call us by those names," "It brings us many different shames," "Tweedle Dee and Dweedle Dum," "Are long dead, and ho-hum," "Ethan and Aiden now are we," "So who the hell might you be?" Stiles stared slowly up at Derek, jaw slack and eyes glaring holes through him, "Are they for real?" "Unfortunately," Derek sighed, "I am the son of Alice, and Stiles is a witch," he explained, Ethan and Aiden exchanged glances, eyebrows raised, "A witch?" "Wich witch?" "Just.. a witch..." Derek sighed, "You know as a potential Ascended I'm mildly offended by that 'just a witch' thing," Stiles mused, making Derek groan, "Well it doesn't matter now," "It never mattered anyhow," Ethan and Aiden hummed to eachother, beginning to walk away again as Derek followed, "Um Derek? Why are we following the people who are going to take us to a serial decapitator with no sense of reason or morals?" "Because we can't fight them," he replied, glancing at Stiles and giving him a subtle wink, "Listen to the wolf for he is right," "You wouldn't want to put up a fight," "Even if you fought with all your might," "We'd surely give you quite the fright," Stiles groaned, "How is this not KILLING you?" he huffed, Derek just shrugged, nudging him gently, Stiles looked up, eyebrows raised expectingly at him as they fell behind a step or two, "Bite me," Derek muttered under his breath, "Um.... 'scuse me?" "As hard as you can, aim for blood," he muttered, "Why-" "Explain later, bite now," he insisted, Stiles took a deep breath, this just ... did not sound like even a remotely good idea.... but then again, as he had already proven, Derek did know Wonderland about a zillion times better than Stiles could ever even consider, he had to trust that Derek knew what he was doing here... swallowing roughly, Stiles leaned over and bit into Derek's neck as hard as he could, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to imagine it was anything but Derek's soft flesh under his teeth, he flinched upon tasting the blood but kept on until he heard Derek's breathing start to get seriously ragged, then he finally let go and leaned back, cringing at the horrible bloody bruise he'd left there, "We have to stop," Derek announced, and Stiles watched in complete bewilderment as the twins stopped and turned around, "We can't stop yet," "Not yet my pet," "You haven't even met," "The queen I bet," they chanted off, Stiles twitched but forced himself not to say or do anything potentially hazardous... "We can't continue, I'm injured," Derek said, turning to show them the bitemark, the twins frowned, exchanging looks before glaring pointedly at Stiles, "A bite I see," "How might that be?" "Uhhhh..... rough lovin'?" Stiles grinned hopefully, Ethan and Aiden turned, muttering something or other to themselves before turning back towards the witch and the werewolf, "Very well, a hospital now you must find," "But pay yourselves no nevermind," "For if you start to fill with fear," "The Bandersnatch will soon appear," "Right..." Derek said slowly, gripping Stiles' hand, "We're going to go now... to the hospital..." he added, waiting for some sort of reaction before pulling Stiles away, walking calmly at first before breaking into a run with the witch at his side, Ethan and Aiden sighed in unison, starting to walk down the path again, "Poor poor wolf and witch," "They know not who they ditch," "It's the queen of red they think we serve," "They'll make for her a lovely hors d’oeuvre," "But it's the queen of white we're loyal to," "We'd better tell her, before they do,"

~+~

"Lydia..... that doesn't look the way I look," Malia said slowly, "FASCINATING," Lydia breathed, "I've heard so much about twins sharing their magical gifts... I never thought that they could actually have opposites..." "Would someone like to tell me what's going on? Really, I'll settle for anyone and anything at this point," John said tiredly, "It appears to me that our dear werecoyote is in actuality a Hell Hound," Issac hummed, "... Excuse me, my brother is a WHAT?" Malia hissed, "NOT a 'hellhound' the way you're percieving, that's just... slang, the way Faeries are so often called 'fairies', oh sure it starts with a misspelling but where will it end up in a hundred years or so?" Lydia said with an eyeroll, "Liam appears to be a Barghest," "What's a bar-g.. barg.." "Barghest, Scott, essentially they're just big dogs who can withstand fire and mourn the dead, I didn't think shapeshifters could BECOME barghest being that they aren't really animals, they're spiritual creatures, closer to Fae Folk, Barghest are in many ways a combination of banshees and some sort of fire spirit, although perhaps banshees and shapeshifters..." she paused, eyes lighting up, "Malia, do you know much about your parents?" she shook her head, heaving a sigh and looking down, "Liam and I were too young when they died," "So... perhaps the reason the two of you are such rare talents isn't just because your spirits call for it... maybe you have a very special heritage, did you know that sirens are born of banshees and merfolk? Or that faeries have been breaking off into different sects of beings with different powers for centuries now?" "Fascinating," Erica muttered sarcastically, "My POINT is... if we scratch a little deeper under the skin of this, we may just expose some amazing details of how magic works when it comes to mixed species," she said with an excited smile, "I'd rather not know the details of any of this thanks," Boyd said blandly, Lydia just sighed, shaking her head, "And it could help them control their powers if I knew what I was dealing with," she huffed, "You probbably should have lead with that," Cora mused, Lydia just shook her head, irritation evident on her face, "You're all so concentrated on ONE aspect of things... yes, these new powers could help us win against our enemy, yes, having a massive dog who won't burn and who can drag people to their demise is going to be a great skill- and if Malia would ever show you what she can truly do we'd see that SHE would have some great skills as well, but this is a very big deal for when all of this is over too, I, and many others who have been born into magic-accepted realms, have thought for so long that the humans wiped out many many of our kinds... learning more about this could be huge, it could effect the future of everything here, and it could certainly prevent this situation of humans taking over happening again in the future, if we only took a moment to get more information..." she said with a soft sigh of defeat,"Look, as... weirdly delightfull as all of this seems to be ... and as much as I agree that we should learn about it for future reference, the future may not even be AROUND by the time my brother gets back here, we should be concentrating on how to get out of this mess alive and restore some symbalance of balance," Laura said reasonably, Lydia hung her head, leaning against the wall behind her, "That's exactly what I'm trying to do..."

~+~

"How are you not losing your mind right now? How did you not lose your mind earlier, is actually a better question? All that rhyming..." Stiles groaned, dragging his hands down his face, Derek just shrugged, mostly keeping to himself as they walked, "Wonderland is full of riddles and rhymes, you start getting used to it after a few times..... oh no...." he groaned, Stiles just cringed, looking somewhat pained, "Yeaaaah... sudden crisis aside here... are you ever going to explain to me even a SMALL percentage of the weird crap that goes on in this place? What was that thing with the biting?" "Wonderland has a fair amount of respect for needing to tap out of something due to injuery and hospitals are neutral grounds, no one can harm you for political reasons at a hospital," "So just for political reasons then?" "Right," "That's... somehow not as comforting as you think it is Big Guy," "It's alot better than being dragged away to see the Red Queen don't you think? Look... Ethan and Aiden aren't just twins, they're shapeshifters, I'm not sure what kind of shapeshifter since I've never had the displeasure of seeing them shift myself... but twin shapeshifters are something of a big deal, they're extremely powerfull, there are even legends that say they can merge with eachother, it's nothing I want to be involved in, and knowing the Red Queen she has about twelve different back up plans should the twins have gone back empty handed, we need to get out of this part of Wonderland and firmly into the White Queen's court- now," he explained, taking Stiles' hand to help him over a fallen log, "Yeah ok... right I can get that..." he said quietly, following Derek wordlessly for another moment, "Derek?" "Yeah?" "Are we ever going to ... you know.... address the pink elephant in the room?" Derek paused, glancing at him, "Are you being literal or metaphorical?" "...Metaphorical, oh my God, you can't tell me pink elephants are a thing..." "Ofcourse pink elephants are a thing Stiles, honestly, did you never wonder where the baby pink elephants came from? You know they don't ACTUALLY come out of eggs right?" Stiles pursed his lips, patting Derek gently on the back, "I hate to break this to you but your brain forgot to clue you in on the fact that you're having another Wonderland flashback buddy," "O-Oh..." he mumbled, looking down shyly and blushing "Anyway, are we going to discuss the fact that we kind of got engaged or....?" "What do you mean 'kind of'?" Derek frowned, "Ah... just.... we were hopped up on Wonderland pollen, or whatever... I wasn't sure if you meant it wen yo-" "I meant it," Derek said quickly, "I meant it.... did you mean it?" Stiles swallowed, nodding slowly, "Yeah, I meant it, I would want to marry you Derek ... under any circumstance, every circumstance... I promise that," Derek smiled gently, squeezing his hand and falling closer in step with him, "Same here," "Plus I want to have your adopted babies," Stiles grinned up at him, Derek sighed, "Good to know, but I still think that's partly the Wonderland pollen talking," "Don't be so sure," "With you Stiles, I'm sure of absolutely nothing," Stiles pouted, stopping suddenly and leaning up, giving him a chaste kiss on the lips, "You should be sure of that," the werewolf looked down, unable to stop smiling, "Alright.. I'm sure of nothing minus one thing," the witch grinned, pulling him to start walking again, "Eh.. it's a start,"

~+~

"So it didn't work?" Danny glanced up, quirking an eyebrow at his companion, "What didn't work?" "Don't play dumb, it isn't a good look for you- the spell? You know, that hocus-pocus 'grant a hundred wishes and get your light magic back' thing?" the sorcerer frowned up at Jackson, wrinkling his nose, "And how do you know about that?" he asked, "I heard you talking about it ofcourse, honestly Danny, you and the _witchling_ think you're so quiet, but you're both loud-mouthed, can't keep a secret from anyone I'm sure," he said with a cocky grin, "I just had to convince Derek to fake an argument with me so you wouldn't catch on," he hummed, "You wouldn't," Danny huffed, Jackson cocked his head, "Wouldn't I?" "You're right, I'm sorry, YOU would, Derek wouldn't," he corrected, "Yeah... so maybe I didn't 'convince' so much as ... 'instigate'," he hummed, "Ah, and the truth emerges," Danny hummed, leaning back and staring listlessly at his fingertips, "So it didn't work?" Jackson repeated, Danny shook his head slowly, "It doesn't seem like it does it?" he replied simply, "I guess not," Jackson shrugged, leaning against the wall next to Danny, "I heard more than that you know, more than just the ... giants and wishes," "And by 'more than that' I assume you mean-" "That you're madly in love with me? Yeah..." he grinned, clicking his tounge and staring wryly at Danny, "I know, I told you I'm everyone's type, you're trying to get your light magic back because of me, FOR me, that's quite a crush," he teased, "Just try to forget it Jackson," Danny replied briskly, "Oh.... come on, you're being selfish Danny, even more than usual," "Selfish? How am I being selfish?" he frowned defensively, "Because you aren't taking my feelings into consideration, you're acting as if you're the only one who gets to have a say in this relationship, it's really starting to get on my nerves," the sorcerer rolled his eyes, "Jackson... I'm not... I'm not good this way, you deserve someone light, someone who won't cause chaos wherever they go and who can ...." "Cure me?" he guessed, "You aren't the only witch alive, I'm sure I'll find someone sometime, and I don't really care about chaos, in fact, I'd welcome it, I've been cooped up too long- no thanks to you," "I'm serious Jackson," "So am I! Have you looked at us Danny? We're not exactly angels, we're both dark, in our own ways, these claws have peirced your flesh more than once, and you're worried about hurting ME?" he huffed, flexing his fingers in front of Danny's face to show off the milky translucent claws, "When I've already hurt YOU so many times? Come on, you'd be doing an old beast like me a favor," "So if you're a beast what does that make me?" Jackson shrugged, leaning a little closer and placing a finger under his chin, "Beautifull?" "You have a warped sense of beauty my dear," Danny teased back, leaning a bit closer himself, "Well then, seems we're a matched set, 'cause that makes two of us," he replied, not even giving Danny the chance to back away before leaning in and pressing their lips together, and when their lips met, a truly amazing thing happened, a soft glow started to surround the sorcerer and he gasped as the light spread throughout his body, Jackson pulled back a moment later, staring at him in shock, "Was that..?" "I think so..." he inhaled, staring at the soft sparks that radiated from his fingertips as the glow tried to settle, "I think I just got my light magic back..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thylacine and Barghest are two of my absolute favorite creatures ever so I do admit that this was a little self-indulgant.. this entire fic was self-indulgant who am I kidding?


	22. I See The Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time in Wonderland, there was a hospital with dancing nurses and rooms of gumdrops...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just gonna get this out of the way and mention that this entire hospital fiasco was more or less inspired by Kingdom Hospital, especially this scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUGnCqlgBA0 so yes it's pretty wacked out

"Your bitemark faded," Derek muttered suddenly, "Huh? Oh.. yeah it did... ah werewolf healing," Stiles sighed as he pouted in the general direction of Derek's neck, "We have to do something- quickly at that, the hospital is just up ahead," "Yeah... about that... exactly what is your plan?" Stiles asked with concern, "Simple, we get in, we seek out one of the people who works for the White Queen, and we get them to take us to her, I'm sure Miss Satomi can help us get where we need to go," he explained, "Right..." Stiles muttered, sighing and stepping over a huge fallen log in front of him, "I really do like it you know," Derek said suddenly, "Huh?" "The ... biting.... I mean ... in normal situations..." he muttered, staring up at the sky as if that somehow would prevent him from actually admitting that he was saying this, Stiles just grinned, putting a hand on the small of his back, "Well then I guess I'll have to keep trying after you and I get out of this little inconvenience called 'running for our lives', wich I would be more than happy to do by the way," he smirked, Derek smiled slightly, "I thought you might," "What? How can you tell?" he frowned, eyes narrowing and lips pursing, "Let's just call it a gift," he shrugged back, "Clever," Stiles snorted, watching as Derek rounded the corner and they spied an old looking building just a few feet away, it looked rather broken down for that matter, with shattered windows and vines crawling all across it, boards and dust settled around all over the place, it was pretty terrible to look at, "Act sick," Derek said as they walked towards it, "What?" "My mark faded, the only way we get in is if one of us is sick or injured, I tried my part now it's your turn," "What do-" "Don't worry, I'll do my best to come up with something mild," he said as he looped an arm around him and walked into the old place, Stiles was pretty shocked to see that the inside was jumping with life and newer than ever but then he supposed nothing in Wonderland should surprise him anymore, "DEREK!!! Is that you!?" screamed a voice, Derek smiled politely as a woman with red and black pigtails came springing towards them, her pigtails spinning of their own volition upon seeing him up close, "It's me, how are you Nurse Harley?" "Well I'm just right as a gumdrop! And what's goin' on with this little sugarplum?" she hummed, "Stiles swallowed a brass flower petal," he explained, the woman- Harley, clicked he tounge, "I see... well then I'll just call up front, you remember the way don't you my sweet prince?" "Yes Ma'am," he replied with a nod of his head, "Well then just take your sugar and we'll bring a cube," she instructed, "Yes, Nurse Harley, thank you," he added as he dragged Stiles into the hospital, avoiding as many people as he could to get towards the back where the stairs were, "What was th-" "Shh," Derek warned, "Brass Flower petals make you mute," Stiles looked up at him slowly and he swore if glares had the power to kill Derek would be dead on his feet right now...

~+~

"You have your light magic back? Are you sure?" Lydia asked quietly, Danny shook his head, looking down, "No I'm not, but I don't know what else that all would have been about.." "Try some light magic then," she insisted, Danny stared up at her, a little hesitant, before nodding and opening his palm, taking a deep breath and blowing a kiss into the air, surely enough, an ethereal gold butterfly fluttered forward, landing only breifly on his hand before heading on, "Light magic... I don't believe it," Lydia breathed, "Now do some dark magic," Malia suggested, earning several glares from the people around her, "What? Nothing earth shattering, I just want to see if he still can," "Well therein lies the problem," Danny mused, "I can't, you are either a practitioner of light magic or dark magic, you can't have both, this isn-" Malia took the chance to step roughly on his hand and completely out of instinct a wave of dark energy propelled from Danny's body and nocked her into the wall behind her, "Malia!" Kira screamed as she and Liam rushed towards the shapeshifter to help her up, "I knew it," she muttered, "How did YOU know it? I didn't even know it," Danny frowned, "Intuition?" she replied with a shrug, "So what triggered all of this?" Scott asked in confusion, "Must have been True Love's Kiss, wich would explain why MY kiss didn't work _Jackson_ ," Lydia pointed out, "But then why does he still have dark magic?" Cora asked, "Because he wasn't CURSED with darkness... he asked for it," Laura mused, taking a step closer, "I admit my knowledge on magic is rusty but... Danny intentionally traveled a dark path, and he did some terrible things on that path too, you can't get rid of dark magic until you completely atone for it and Danny hasn't done that yet.... however, he has taken the first step," "With true love's kiss?" Issac guessed, "That's right," "How? More importantly- why?" "Love cannot be tainted by darkness, it's the purest thing there is and is always in the light, even when the people who use it are turning dark themselves, think of it this way, even the darkness can be drawn to love, but love cannot be drawn to darkness, by opening himself up enough to allow love back into his life, he allowed in the light as well, from here it'll be a hard journey to get rid of the dark magic... but atleast it's a start," she explained, "And what about Jackson? Shouldn't the kiss have cured him too?" Melissa asked, "Afraid not, Jackson wasn't cursed, he was a victim of alchemy, and alchemy operates closer to the rules of science than the rules of magic, either way, it isn't a curse so a kiss can't break it," Danny sighed, staring at him and getting an idea, "Danny?" "Hold still, if I really do have my light magic back.... there's something I want to do," he said softly, placing a hand on the scales formed over Jackson's cheek and closing his eyes as he leaned in to kiss him again, out of the corner of his eye, he could faintly see the scales beginning to rise off of Jackson's skin...

~+~

"This place is really bizarre," Stiles muttered under his breath, "Psh, you haven't seen anything yet," Derek promised as he finally got to the top of the stairs with Stiles at his side, leading the witch through a small crowd of people and waving at a nurse with long pink curls, the nurse turned around, a set of white feathery wings jutting out from her back as she smiled, "DEREK!" she cried, jumping onto the counter and sprinting over to him, "Oh just LOOK at you! You're furry!" she cried, smashing her hands against his cheeks and thumbing at his stubble, "Good to see you too Miss Lily," he mumbled between squished cheeks, "Who's this little thing?" she asked, turning her attention to Stiles, who leaned back with the frightened assumption that she was going to grab his cheeks too, instead she started petting his hair and ok, he admitted, that was slightly less terrifying, "Stiles is my .. ah... fiance`..." he said slowly, still a little uncertain if Stiles was alright with him telling people that, "Oh! You two are going to be committing the sacred dance!? Will it be here in Wonderland?" she asked, still raking her fingers through Stiles' hair, the witch, being that he was currently incapable of speaking, just gave Derek a distressed look as if begging for help, "I'm not sure yet, we haven't really talked about it, actually, Stiles can't exactly talk at all right now, he swallowed a Brass Flower petal," he explained, the nurse seemed to understand immediately and pulled back, patting his cheek as a silent command to open his mouth, and- still staring at Derek with great alarm- the witch slowly did as commanded, struggling not to jump back when the woman stuck her fingers in his mouth, "Weeeeeeelll it doesn't seem too swollen... go ahead and relax and I'll go get the sweetness~" she hummed, jumping off of the counter and running off in some random direction, "Come on, we have to find a place with a door to wait in, the hospital may be a neutral zone but if anyone from the Red Kingdom overhears that we're trying to get away from the queen they'll still be able to send word to her when they leave, and you never know who's about to end their shift," he explained, dragging Stiles towards a random room and kicking the door shut behind them, the room was unnaturally bright and covered in pictures of gumdrops, it made Stiles' eyes hurt... "Will she be able to find us in here?" "Yeah, Miss Lily is a quarter-harpy, she can just find my heartbeat, she has it memorized," he shrugged, leaning against the counter and cabinets behind him as Stiles stared at him, mouth slightly open, "She has your heartbeat... memorized...?" "Yeah," he shrugged, "And that doesn't bother you AT ALL?" Derek stared at him, sincerely confused, "Why would it? Miss Lily is my freind..." Stiles squinted slightly, sitting on the bench behind him, "You're weird in Wonderland, do you know that? Complete polar opposite of how you are every other day of your life," "I can't help it, I grew up here, most of my childhood memories are from here, being back... it just ... brings all of that back too," "I thought you said you only lived here a few years?" Stiles frowned, "I did, but time moves differently in Wonderland, what was only a year in our world was several years here, I may have spent less time here than I did in our world by technicality... but it felt like years and years... I have so many more memories of being here than I do from my childhood in our world," he explained softly, "I used to play hide and scream with Miss Lily and Nurse Harley here, it was always one of my favorite places... one of the few that was always full of peace..." he said softly, "I see... how come you only call Harley 'Nurse'?" "It's just a matter of preference, Nurse Harley prefers her title as a prefex but Miss Lily just likes 'Miss'," he shrugged, Stiles nodded again, "Huh... how do they recognize you so easily if they haven't seen you since you were a kid?" "Time moves differently, they may have not seen me in years but to them it only feels like ... maybe one year, maybe less, I'm not sure how it works but it's a little like seeing someone with a new haircut, they look different but the same, even though I was only this tall the last time they saw me," he explained, holding his hand against the bottom of his ribs as a measurement device, "That's... really fascinating," Stiles mused, Derek just shrugged, "I suppose so," "You really seem to like it here you know, Wonderalnd is weirder than hell but.. isn't there any place here that's.. I don't know... not terrible?" he suggested, "Yeah, there are places like that... the thing is that when we left there was a problem brewing between the Red Queen and the White Queen, Satomi suggested that we leave before it got past a minor dispute and considering the state Wonderland is currently in I'm willing to say it was a good thing we left when we did, plus Wonderland has it's good points- don't get me wrong- but could you really LIVE here? It isn't exactly paradise," he mused, "Good point... is that why they want you to be the next Alice so much? Because there's some kind of war going on and there isn't another one?" "Well that's part of it I'm sure, but also... I'm the son of an Alice, the only times an Alice's relative has become an Alice in their own right have been some of the best Alices in history, the seventeenth Alice's older sister, the fifty-second Alice's son, and the seventy-fourth Alice's daughter, they're all legends for their own reasons..." "Would you ever consider being an Alice?" Stiles asked curiously, "No ah... not unless I was forced into it," he answered, shaking his head, "How come?" "Alices have to put Wonderland first during their Alice-ing, I'd have to put this place first, my desire to help it- save it- first, my desire for exploring first... I couldn't do that, I couldn't put this world before my home, my family... before you.." Stiles grinned, hopping down and crossing closer to Derek, "That's so sweet," he cooed, Derek rolled his eyes, "Uh-huh," "No really!" "Sure," Stile rolled his eyes, patting Derek's arm and letting his hand linger there, "It is- don't tell me it isn't- so.. I guess the Red Queen and White Queen must be having it out pretty badly then?" "Yeah, the Cheshire Cat is acting homicidal and the Mad Hatter is being more murderous than usual, those two are actually sort of .. non-violent for Wonderlandians, but if they're wound up this tight they must be under stress, meaning the tension between the Queens is much more than just tension now, it must have escalated," "Well when will a new Alice come in to handle it?" Derek shrugged, "Alices are finicky things, you can never know for sure how long it'll take, one time we had three Alices in three years, another time we went a century without one, it just depends, but with trouble brewing like this... I hope it's soon, I'd hate to see it go the way it did once before.." "You mean when there was no Alice for a century?" "Yeah, the Emerald Queen broke the Mad Hatter's pocket watch and it caused time to stop in Wonderland, the same things kept repeating, it was a dead wasteland when the 26th Alice arrived, or atleast so I've heard," Stiles nodded, smiling and sitting back down as he leaned in to listen to Derek, "Tell me more about Wonderland Derek, tell me everything about Wonderland,"

~+~

"I don't understand, I thought you said he couldn't break Jackson's curse," Malia frowned as she stared at the couple, "I couldn't, because it wasn't a curse," Danny shrugged, "So then why is Jackson.. you know... normal again?" Scott asked in confusion, "It's a spell I was working on to help my boyfreind with his shift before I went dark, now that I've gotten so much experience with magic I was able to perfect it.. atleast enough so that I was able to force his features back to normal, he's still a Kanima, but now he can shapeshift rather than being stuck half-turned all the time," Danny explained, "Fascinating... would you mind telling me about it?" Lydia hummed, Danny smirked slightly, "Well you start with the basic idea of pushing," he began, frowning when he heard the sound of someone entering the foxhole almost immediately, "Hello?" came the voice, Lydia jerked her head up, heart skipping a beat as she jumped to her feet and stepped forward, just as the newcomer rounded the corner, "Allison..." she breathed, Allison stared, mouth open, "Lydia?" she soon broke into a grin, running forward and throwing her arms around her, "Lydia!! You're alright!!" she shouted happily, giving her a quick peck on the lips and hugging her tighter, Lydia let out a shaking breath, hugging her back just as tightly, "And you're still human!" Allison blinked, pulling back a bit, "Wait what? You ... last night-" "Nevermind that, you.. you're on our side huh?" she breathed, Allison nodded, stepping back and slowly letting her go, her hands tracing down Lydia's arms and holding her own hands, giving them a tight squeeze, "I'm on your side, partly thanks to Scott... partly thanks to you, I went a little off track for a wile but... I turned around, I see the light now and I'm staying in it, especially now that this light has brought you back to me," she breathed, "So.... how do you two know eachother?" Scott asked, mouth twitching with a hint of jealousy, "It's a long story, we'll tell you some other time," Lydia smiled softly, taking a deep breath and reluctantly letting go of Allison's hands, "Allison.. it's been too long my dear," "Too long indeed, alot has happened and we really need to catch up," she agreed, biting her lip and inhaling deeply, "I'm afraid it has to wait though, I didn't come here just to talk I .... I have some things I need to tell everyone, where are Stiles and Derek?" "In Wonderland," Jackson snorted quickly, Allison turned, frowning and doing a double-take wen she saw his appearance but quickly looked back towards the group and tried to reset her mind, "Right..." she said slowly, "What do you need to tell us?" Scott asked curiously, "My parents are getting really suspicious, and after last night I think my aunt is too, plus they're getting closer to finding this foxhole, even though the glamour is still in place and it's still hard even for me to find... they're getting closer, we don't have much longer, we have to be prepared for the fact that this war is going to come to a head sooner than we'd hoped," "How soon?" Kira asked, Allison inhaled deeply, "As soon as about two days,"

~+~

"So WHY are the walls decorated with gum drops?" Stiles asked with a small smirk, "Aha.... that's from our fourteenth Alice, her name was Clara I think... or was it Marie...? Anyhow she was from a land quite unlike our own, she had been world jumping for several years already and lived in a world of sweet things, she was an Alice for a wile but eventually went back to the land of sweets to marry a prince when she was older, she helped Wonderland with the mice problem it had a long time ago-" he paused, jerking his head up as the door opened, "So sorry about that! There were apples on the green again!" Lily smiled as she stepped closer, brandishing a large needle and some sort of gigantic sugar cube from her back and smiling sweetly, Stiles squeaked and Derek stepped in front of him protectively, "H-Hang on, Stiles didn't actually swallow any Brass Flower petals," he said quickly, "He didn't?" Lily frowned, "N-No... we just needed to talk to you alone," "Oh.." she frowned, "We're being hunted, we need your help getting us to the White Kingdom," he explained, Lily just smiled and nodded, "I can do that, just after the next bell, ok?" he gave a quick nod, "Alright, thanks," he replied, watching her go and shut the door behind her, "What bell is she talking about?" Stiles asked with a small frown, a moment later a bell started to ring and Derek smiled, "That bell, come on, you'll like this," he insisted, pulling Stiles out of the room, the witch stared at him with disbeleif but followed anyway, if Derek was smiling... Stiles would be more than happy to oblige by whatever he wanted...

~+~

"Two days? Why so soon?" Melissa asked worriedly, "Because I think my aunt is starting to realize something is up, she's asking more detailed questions that I just can't answer, I'm a good liar, not a great one," Jackson let out a cocky laugh and stood up, a bit of swagger in his step, "Leave that to me," he grinned devilishly, "I am the KING of liars my dear, now what is it your aunt thinks you're doing right now?" he asked with an arrogant grin, "Seeing a secret boyfreind..." she said with a cringe, Jackson threw his hands up, looking almost gleefull, "HA! Too easy! Simplest lie in the book, now, first things first, let me see your lying face," he instructed, "I don't think this is going to help," Kira interrupted, "Well you haven't even given me a CHANCE," Jackson huffed, "Not for that reason," Malia spat with a frown, "Look.... even if she pulls this off, Allison can only lie for so long and like she said, her parents are getting closer to finding us anyway, personally, I'm shocked we've kept this up as long as we have," Kira explained, "She's right, doing something stupidly high profile like hiding a prince? You should have been filleted the first night," Laura added, "Yeah, we had to move ALOT when we were hiding from the hunters and we weren't even a big deal," Cora sighed, "Guess that means you really made a good glamour Mom," Kira beamed up at her mother, Noshiko chuckled, "Thank you Kira, but it won't save us for too much longer," "Right... should I... well... should I?" she asked quietly, the older kitsune gave a nod of approval, "You've earned your first tail Kira, this one is on you," she took a breath, standing in the middle of the room and arching her posture a little to seem bigger, to be a more noticeable presence, "Alright... we need to get the children we have here to a safe place, and since most of the skulk really aren't fighters, we should keep them out of this, just Mom and I will attend the fight, we should maybe move Scott too, atleast for now, atleast until this is all over and it's safe for him again... the foxhole is only safe as long as no one suspects it, if the hunters are starting to zero in on it it would be safer for him if he moved somewhere far away from here, and in the mean time the rest of us need to keep training, to the best of our abilities, find any weaknesses and fix them as much as we can, the only way we're going to be able to do this is if we attack first, meaning we'll have to get to them before they find our hide out, so if Allison thinks they'll find us in three days, we strike in two, if she's thinking two days... we have to strike tommorrow," she explained, "Agreed, Allison, how well can you pinpoint when they might find us?" Lydia asked, the hunter cringed slightly, "I'd say... I might have a seventy percent chance of figuring it out? It's all about where my parents are leading the troop, they're circling now, I'm just not sure if they'll be coming back this way in two days or three... I should have an idea of it by tommorrow night," Lydia nodded again, holding her palm out and blowing a kiss as an ethereal blue butterfly appeared from thin air, "Take this, the night before you believe they'll be coming our way, speak your message to this butterfly and send it away, it'll return to us and tell us," she explained as the butterfly fluttered over to perch in Allison's hair, perfectly disguising it's self as a hair clip, "I will, don't worry," she promised, "So does anyone know where Scott and the babies can hide for now?" Malia asked, earning a few snickers from Jackson and some of the others, "Actually... I think I have an idea," Issac mused

~+~

"Where is this music coming from?" Stiles grinned as he walked out into the middle of the hospital again, Derek grinned, "Wonderland magic, it can do just about anything," he laughed, watching as the hospital staff- and even some of who Derek assumed were paitients- put on an elaborate dance in front of them, _"I thought love was only true in fairytales, meant for someone else but not for me, love was out to get me, that's the way it seemed, dissappointment haunted all my dreams,"_ "Do you want to dance?" Derek offered, Stiles' mouth opened, oh yes, Wonderland!Derek was definately different from normal!Derek... "When we're trying to outrun a serial decapitator?" "Lily won't leave until the dance is over, it's customary," he shrugged back, "This place continues to be so weird.. yeah let's do it," he agreed, grinning when Derek took his hand and pulled him into the middle of the fray, twirling him and grinning adorably, _"Then I saw his face, now I'm a believer, not a trace, of doubt in my mind, I'm in love, ohhhhh I'm a believer, I couldn't leave him if I tried,"_ "So why are we doing this exactly?" he asked over the sound of the music, "You've heard the term 'laughter is the best medicine' right? In Wonderland that's really true, joyous feelings often heal sickness here," Derek explained, "Are you SERIOUS?" "I'm very serious! Why do you think so many people don't mind injuring themselves?" "Oh my God this place is so warped!" "I know, why do you think we don't live here?" he laughed as he twirled him again, "But you seem so much happier here! So much healthier! God, can't we just find a patch of flowers to live in or something where we won't be bothered?" he asked, the dance evolved into something much more choreographed and he thought it would be hard to follow all of the movements but it wasn't, copying Derek's little hand movements and hip swivels was actually pretty easy, especially when everyone else was doing it too, "I'm only like this because I'm comfortable here Stiles, I have a home here... or atleast I used to, I know the rules and I know the ways to get around them, think about it, ever since we met Wonderland is the only place that hasn't been completely new to me, the only place where I have any kind of upper hand at all... any knowledge at all of what I'm dealing with," he explained with a small shrug, putting his hands on his hips as they danced, "Oh my GOD you're right!" Stiles couldn't really believe he hadn't noticed it before but... he was right, excluding Wonderland, Derek had been shifted around from new place to new place and as nerve-wracking as that would be on normal people, it's hell on earth for werewolves who need stability and a place to call home, Derek had been ripped away from his home and in a sort of constant stream of bad things ever since, no wonder he opened up more in Wonderland, it was the only place that he had any kind of information about, any guidance, anything that wasn't forcing himself to put trust in complete strangers, no wonder Derek was so relaxed here even in the face of danger, it was the devil he knew, and it was the only time in weeks that he was able to be the one in control of... well... anything... and not completely dependent on someone else's lead... "So are you like this at home too then? Your home?" Stiles asked curiously, "Admittedly? No... I'm really not a happy person, but.." "But?" "But Wonderland has mostly good memories for me- weird as they may be they're good, and you... you're good too Stiles, you make me happy, Wonderland used to make me happy... put the peices together," Stiles nodded, smiling gently as Derek pulled him close against his chest and put their foreheads together as the music ended and the dancing began to disperse, "When all of this is over, we're getting a nice place- you and I, we'll put up a bakery or something, I'm going to give you a safe space again Derek, mark my words," Derek snorted, "Stiles, you don't have to-" he paused, looking up and moving away when Lily fluttered towards them, "I'm going out to scout for a good path, stay here until I return," she instructed, they nodded as she left and Stiles- not wanting Derek to finish his earlier sentence- leaned closer, "Want to dance until she gets back?" "Without any music?" Stiles just grinned, snapping his fingers as music started to flutter into Derek's hearing, "How...?" "Magic," Stiles hummed, smiling as he took Derek's hand and started swaying with him, humming along to the tune that only the two of them could hear, this was somehow different than the last dance, it was upbeat but also private, intimate, quiet, it was a dance in wich Stiles leaned up and wrapped his arms around Derek's neck, kissing him gently on the lips, and it felt like sparks were running through his body, it was so much better than the previous kisses- now that he was fully conscious and not having his life threatened somehow- and he couldn't believe that he hadn't been doing this his entire life, _"So let's move fast, groove slow, doesn't matter where, baby let's go, move fast, groove slow, don't you wanna be my guy?"_ and perhaps the most stunning fact of all was how much Derek seemed to be enjoying it too, he smiled like his entire life was alight and twirled and spun Stiles and even laughed a little, and when the song ended and Derek placed his forehead against Stiles' shoulder and inhaled, he didn't lean up right away, wich sort of surprised them both actually, "We should find out what's taking Lily so long," he finally said, "I don't like the feel of it," Stiles nodded slowly in agreement and they dodged the people around them, heading for the door that was closest by, Derek gave Stiles a warning gesture before slowly edging out of the door first, "Do you see her?" Stiles breathed, Derek shook his head slowly, frowning, "No I-" he choked, hands coming to cover his neck when he felt the sharp prick of a dart peircing his flesh, "DEREK!?" Stiles shouted, rushing to catch him but jerking forward when he felt the same pain in his own neck, his vision was getting blurry and he fell at some point but he wasn't sure exactly wen or were, gravity and perception were both getting cloudy, all he knew was that he could feel someone gripping his hands and starting to drag him away, and he wanted so badly to fight, but he couldn't even manage to lift a finger before blacking out entirely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a chance Nurse Harley was based on Harley Quinn...
> 
> I'm A Believer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUyu5prWjTE (I can't find the Neil Diamond version I like so this is just as good)  
> Be My Girl- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxZ8mOS4pz8 (I'm not sure how or why I thought this would be a good fit for Wonderland but I did and I still do)


	23. Four Things (Wish Granter)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there was a queen who wanted a child so much that she accepted the help of a witch...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for bringing Into The Woods back into this mess again since this entire backstory is based on Into The Woods! The prolouge, where the lines and four things are from, is here and well worth the listen despite the length https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEkKIlGDjm8

"You sure this is alright with you Sheriff?" Lydia asked cautiously as she gently stroked the lizard in her hand, "Yeah, are you kidding me? You really need to ask if it's alright for the PRINCE to hide out in my home?" "Always better to be sure," she shrugged back, setting the lizard down and stepping in front of the strange group of mice, lizards, and pumpkins, "I'm going to make sure everyone rides in style, I'm just lucky I found all of my ingredients," "And by 'found' don't you mean 'forced Danny to conjure'?" Braeden pointed out, "I did not FORCE Danny to conjure anything, he offered- to test his light magic," "Still different than 'found'..." she sighed loudly, "Is it so hard to understand that I'm less than pleased that I have to work with someone who essentially held me prisoner for months?" "Point taken..." "Right, so, everyone just stand back and let me work my magic," she hummed, pulling her wand from her hair and giving it a few flicks and beginning to repeat the charms needed, "I swear I've seen Stiles do it so many times but I'll never get used to magic," John muttered, "It is a little amazing isn't it?" Melissa smiled back, "Just so we're clear... Queen McCall, the sheriff, Scott, Issac, and Lydia will go to the hideout with the skulk, if something should happen Lydia will send me a butterfly, we'll meet up again when it's safe, until then Lydia and Issac need to stay and guard Scott, is that right?" Kira asked cautiously, Lydia gave a short nod, "That's right, if Derek and Stiles come here first let them know where we are," "Ofcourse," Kira smiled softly, waving and taking a step back as everyone leaving climbed into the carriages and they took off one by one, as the last carriage left Kira turned back, taking an anxious breath and jumping back down into the foxhole, "You ok?" Malia asked with a small frown as the two of them walked towards the rest of the group, "I'll be fine, I promise," she smiled, picking up her katana and smirking, "Now... let's get down to business, to defeat the hunters,"

~+~

Stiles groaned loudly and felt his entire body tense up, opening his eyes slowly as he wiggled around, trying to get a sense for where he was and what was happening, everything was dark... too dark.. "Stiles?" he heard, jerking his head up- although he had very little sense of where exactly "up" was- and feeling his heart almost skip a beat, "Derek?" he called, "I'm here," he answered, Stiles huffed, trying to see in the darkness and finally noticing the closed in feeling around him, inhaling sharply he could feel fabric catch against his mouth and rolled his eyes, "Bags over our heads? How original," he huffed, moving his arms and groaning when he felt the binding around his wrists, "Hey Der, what'd they bind you with?" he asked, "Wolfsbane," Derek grunted back, "Seriously? They have Wolfsbane in Wonderland?" "They probbably had it imported by someone from our world, either that or the Wonderland equivalent- _Lyaconcatenas_ , it's pretty much identical in feel and I can't see or smell it..." "You can't catch the scent?" "No, something is dulling my senses, I can't catch any scents..." Stiles cursed, kicking in frustration and hearing a yelp, "D-Derek? Did-" "Yes that was me, thank you, my arm appreciates it," he sighed, tilting his head back, "Your arm... are you sitting up or laying down?" "Up," "Were yo-" "I woke up before you did and uprighted myself," "Huh..." he muttered, thinking for a moment, "Derek? Can you angle yourself towards me? Reach down and pull the cover off of my head and maybe I can get us out of here, if I can see maybe I can get the ropes off of you," he suggested, Derek exhaled, "Yeah... alright I can try... kick again," he ordered, Stiles hesitated for a breif second before kicking outwards again, jumping slightly when he felt Derek catch his foot in his hand, "Stay still," he said softly, his hands slowly tracing up Stiles' legs, the witch swallowed, trying to keep himself in control as he felt Derek angle himself differently, his hands continuing to travel upwards, "Do you want me to try to undo the ropes?" "No.. no that might ... it'll take too much time that we don't have if you can't see," he replied, swallowing roughly as Derek grunted, moving again and trying to get closer, Stiles slid down, lowering his head as much as he could and feeling Derek take the bottom of the fabric in his fingers, tugging it upwards and backwards, trying to get it off, after a moment it was enough for Stiles to see light and he tilted his head back, shaking it slightly and taking in a huge gasp of air as he finally got the sack off of his head, blinking and cringing at the sudden light, "Sit up, sit up," he demanded, licking his lips and maneuvering into a leaning position, grabbing the top of the bag over Derek's head with his teeth and giving it a few sharp tugs before it was high enough for Derek to shake it off, "Can you tell where we are?" Stiles asked hopefully, Derek took a deep breath and looked around, eyes narrowing and cursing lowly, "What? What's wrong?" he asked, "We're in the Red Queen's prison..." "What? How can you tell?" "I recognize the walls.." "You've been here before?" "Long story," Stiles rolled his eyes, "The walls are just... red... just like... red leather... huh... how do you know?" "Because it's the Red Queen, OFCOURSE her prisons are nothing but red leather," "Do you see a door?" he shook his head, trying to wobble onto his feet but not doing the best job of it, "The door is blended into the wall, normally I'd be able to find it but-" "But your senses are dull..." "Right, I can't even stand up straight, I can't even ATTEMPT it without getting dizzy as a matter of fact..." he sighed, trying again but pausing when he saw the wall in front of him start to move, leaning back down on his haunches and trying to build enough strength to burst forward and nock their assailant over, but when the door opened, the color drained from Derek's face, "Hello Son Of Alice... it's a pleasure to see you again," the man said with a sickening grin, stepping into the room, "The Knave Of Hearts.... Brunski..."

~+~

"Your Majesty, do you mind if I ask you something?" Lydia asked as she leaned against the back of the carriage seat, "Please just call me Melissa, and I don't mind at all," "Well... not to be blunt but... why does the king hate magic?" the question seemed to catch the older woman off guard and she stared forward for a moment, a little stunned, "I remember when I was younger... being around here, if I'm not mistaken the last king wasn't this keen on hunting our kind was he?" the queen took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "No, he wasn't, this is all something that started with Rafeal a few years ago..." she paused, glancing at Scott, "I'm sorry... I never wanted you to find out this way," "Find out about what?" she closed her eyes, hanging her head, "The reason your father hates magic, the reason is because of a witch, the witch who blessed us with you," "What do you mean?" She took his hand, giving it a small squeeze, "Once upon a time...."

_Rafeal was a good man, back when I met him, he was a prince who wanted to marry for love, not for power or money, he met me when we were both of marrying age, I was a peasant girl and he saved me from some bandits, a few days later I saw him struggling to fight off the small army of some noble house and saved him right back, we fell in love and got married and ... it was like a fairytale... going from a life in a small village to one in a palace, we were young and so in love, I became known as the Bandit Princess because of how we met, the story got around and changed here and there but most of it stayed the same, and we ... we were loved, by our kingdom, even by some of the neighboring royalty, there was just one thing we were missing... we wanted a child, and we tried and tried... but we couldn't have one, Rafe's father, the king at the time, was dieing, if I wasn't pregnant by the time he passed, the throne would go to the next kingdom over that he had inherited through marriage, his late wife's brother would take the throne- both thrones, we wanted a child because we wanted to be parents... but now there was a sense of urgency to it, we also couldn't afford to let the kingdom fall into someone else's hands, so we went to the last resort we had at the time, the last resort we could think of, to be more accurate, we decided to go to a witch, and so, before long, we traveled to a nearby village and met with a witch, ... a witch... named Claudia_

~+~

"I tried to warn you against that," Derek sighed, Stiles just grumbled, his blackening eye sore and stinging whenever he blinked, "You didn't tell me the guy was freakishly strong..." "I told you you shouldn't fight that one," Derek huffed back, Stiles just snorted and Derek rolled his eyes, "I'll heal it for you provided we get out of here alive," Derek muttered as they walked, "Thanks, 'provided we get out of here alive' being the key sentence," Stiles grumbled, the gigantic red and gold doors opening to reveal a long red carpet leading up to a gold throne, although clearly the focus was on the woman sitting on that throne... short curled hair, a slightly sadistic grin, "Is that her? The Red Queen?" Stiles breathed, Derek nodded slowly, "Yeah... she's going to ask you to neel Stiles, whatever you do, don't do it, she'll cut off your head.. but- and I cannot stress this enough- be respectfull about it, come up with a good reason not to or she'll force you, understand?" he breathed, Stiles nodded, for once not giving him any back talk as they finally stopped walking, hands still bound but this time in front of them atleast and guards dispersing to their sides, "Well hello there, Son Of Alice, and who is this you have with you?" "My Rose of Red in my Garden of Grey," the queen gasped, grinning brightly, "So you found your rose... how lovely for you, now.... both of you, neel," she demanded, Stiles glanced at Derek for confirmation and the werewolf's gaze held strong, "I will not repeat myself again- _neel_ ," she demanded, "Stiles is my rose, I will only neel for Stiles," he replied, the queen smirked, staring at them and running her fingers along the side of her staff, "And what about you, Rose of the Son Of Alice? Neel for me," "Derek is my Alpha, I'll only neel for him," he replied quickly, glancing at Derek and exhaling in releif when he saw the small, tight nod that the werewolf gave him back, "Hm... well no matter, listen, I need something from you, Son Of Alice, I need you to become an Alice yourself, and I need you to destroy the White Queen," she said simply, "I'm afraid we're previously engaged," Derek replied quickly, "Ah yes your little smatter in your homeland... don't worry, if you agree to become our Alice and work for me, I'll give you the Vorpal Sword," "The Vorpal Sword?" "The Vorpal Sword," "What in the hell is a Vorpal Sword!?" Stiles huffed, "Supposedly the most dangerous weapon in the world- in any world, it can destroy any enemy with a single stroke, it's supposedly just a legend," he replied, "Well supposedly so is Alice In Wonderland, supposedly so is Little Red Riding Hood, supposedly EVERYTHING is just a legend... until it isn't, now.... do we have a deal?" Derek swallowed, exhaling through his nose and flinching suddenly when an arrow shot forward and the Red Queen caught it between her fingertips, "Satomi... what are you doing here? Have you come to share your tea?" she asked with a sick grin, Satomi lowered her bow and took a step forward, "As a matter of fact I have, Meredith,"

~+~

"You knew a witch named Claudia?" John frowned as he stared across at the queen, Melissa nodded slowly, "We did yes, she was the one who blessed us with Scott, but... she was also the one who turned Rafeal against magic forever...."

_There was a time in the kingdom when we used to give away bread to those who could not afford it, the economy was never good, it went down long before back in your grandfather's generation, it never improved... but we would give away the spare bread, there was one day ... one very special day when we met Claudia... we had just given away the last of the spare bread and were setting off to go back to the palace when she arrived, looking as beautifull as she always seemed to, I had seen her in passing, I knew that she was a witch, but that was really all... "I'm sorry, we have no bread," I had told her, and she smiled at me with such softness and sincerity, "I don't want your bread your Majestys," "Then what is it you wish?" "It's not what I wish, it's what you wish," she said said, Rafeal and I looked at eachother so strangely then, not understanding her proposal, "What we wish?" he had echoed, "Yes... there's nothing cooking in that belly now is there? And there will never be... unless..." "Unless what?" I had asked, perhaps too eagerly, "Unless you do exactly as I say," "I don't understand, how do you know- .. why would you help?" Rafeal had asked, "Don't think I'm as selfless as I appear, I'm going to be getting something out of this too, but that's another matter for another time, sometimes nature curses us my queen... curses us with the worst thing that we could be cursed with... but nature is not the one who did this to you," "Then who?" it seemed so impossible at the time that this was happening, that someone had truly cursed us, but I wanted to hear her out, "Well perhaps I've spoken out of place, it isn't YOU that has been cursed... but the prince, and the king, and all of his family as a matter of fact," I didn't understand, and Rafeal didn't understand either, "I don't understand," we said bluntly, "Ofcourse not, long ago, before you were even an idea, your family was cursed, a curse that would never allow them happiness," "And you seek to break this curse?" I had asked, "Oh... no... it isn't that kind of curse that can just be... undone, a curse like this, a curse this strong, can only be undone through a magic that is not a magic, but that's another story, nevermind, anyway, what I look to do is find a loophole for you for this curse," "A loophole..?" "Yes, I can grant you what you wish, but I need some very special ingredients for it, if you wish for a child, there's something you must do for me first," "What must we do?" I had asked all too eagerly, "Go to the woods and bring me back four things, one, the cow as white as milk, two, the cape as red as blood, three, the hair as yellow as corn, four, the slipper as pure as gold, bring me these before the chime of midnight in three days time, tis then the blue moon will appear wich comes but once each hundred years, bring them and I guarantee, a child as perfect as child can be," she promised, and her promise was something that my husband and I had wished for for so long... "You said there was a price," "Yes... but it is one you will not have to pay right away, just remember, this spell will allow you one child, a perfect child, and when that child is born... then I will take my payment, but until then... go to the woods," and she was gone as quickly as she was there to begin with, for so many years I've thought about that day.... and I wished that I had inquired further, as to what price she asked for us to pay...._

~+~

"It's so good to see you again Satomi, I worried that our latest little tiff had driven you far away never to return," Meredith said with a grin as she stood slowly from her throne, "Never my dear, but it does seem that you have a little something of mine and I'd very much like it back, if you give me the Son Of Alice and his pet, I will give you a drink of my tea," she offered, watching with a stern expression as the Red Queen moved towards her, "A sip of your tea? Will our little quarrel be over then?" he asked curiously, "Why ofcourse not, then there's the matter of the tarts, but, you bend my back and I'll bend your's," the White Queen replied, Meredith thought for a moment, tapping her chin, "And what if I want to keep the Son Of Alice? He'll grow into his Alicing one day even if I have to feed his Rose to the Jabberwocky, I could quite use him and all it will cost me is the Vorpal Sword," "Come now Meredith be reasonable, we don't feed Wonderland's native fauna anymore, not after the last time... do we?" "Oh! Well someone may want to tell the Hatter that, word is he's been feeding the Bandersnatch again with all that lust-blood from those mad tea parties of his," "Doesn't she mean blood lust?" Stiles muttered under his breath, Derek rolled his eyes, "THAT'S what you pick out of this conversation? And no, she means lust-blood, blood coated in lust, do you think it was a fluke that everyone at that tea party earlier looked like they were in ecstasy? The Bandersnatch feeds on emotions- not so limited as the Jabberwocky eating fear- the Jabberwocky just eats the fear off of you, ofcourse sometimes he induces it so much that you die of fright so there's that... the Bandersnatch doesn't care what emotion it is as long as it's strong, although lust and fear are the favored flavors, and the Bandersnatch has to eat YOU to eat the emotion," he sighed, Stiles snorted, "Now I get why those twins tried to warn us against being afraid," he mused, Derek's eyes widened, "Yes... that's it! I can't believe I didn't notice it before! Ethan and Aiden must be working for Satomi, when they said that about the Bandersnatch it was a warning... a warning that we should summon it," ".... Uh.... 'scuze me? I don't follow," Derek rolled his eyes, "Emotions will get high here soon, the queens can never stay civil with eachother for too long before it gets homicidal, when we see an opening we just let fear consume us, it'll attract the Bandersnatch and-" "And what? We'll ride it into battle? How much thought did you even put into that before starting to say it?" Stiles asked, Derek sighed, "Admittedly.... none, I've been in Wonderland too long," he muttered, shaking his head, "Enough long not or long too?" they heard, turning and seeing a woman in bright silver armor standing behind them, "Heather!" Derek smiled, "You have now knight white the become you've, you seen I've since long so been it's?" Stiles inhaled deeply, staring at the wall and biting his cheek, "I hate this place and everything it stands for," he grumbled to himself, great, as if Riddlish (wich was, apparently, a legit language) wasn't hard enough to understand, now they had a freaking backwards-talker and oh look at that, Derek knew how to talk to her too, "Here pet your and you are why? Point the beside that's but, Queen White the serve to honor an been it's, have I," "Late too it's before Avalon to Stiles get to have we and landhome our in back fight to own our of war a have of sort we, here of out us help can you way any there is but you to this do to hate I listen? Promise I timesome you tell I'll but too story long a that's," the girl- Heather- smiled and nodded enthusiastically, "You take should I where queen the ask I'll and are you where stay just, sure for out you help can I wayany, Alice another for out hold can Wonderland sure I'm ... now by years few a over spanned has it if even deal a of big that all isn't dispute tart the, serious isn't it but wile a for that like be they'll, worry don't," she said, brushing him off slightly and almost hopping off to tap Satomi on the shoulder, "What in the hell?" Stiles muttered, "Don't worry, Heather is going to handle everything," Derek promised, perking wen Heather came back and pointed to the doors at the end of the hall, "World another from with communicate to like you'd one any there is? Go to need you ever where travel can you so hole rabbit a to get you help I'll and me follow, fine be should doors those through just," "You thank... Heather and, yes someone is there," "Problem no,"

~+~

"I don't understand, why was there a curse placed on our family? Did you break it?" Scott asked anxiously, "All in good time Scott..." Melissa said softly, "I promise, I'll explain everything..."

_"We'll take these with us, they might help," I said as I slipped a couple of daggers into my cloak pocket, "'We'?" "Yes," "'We'?" Rafeal laughed, "You're not coming, it's not safe out there," "I can help you!" "No, bandits are one thing but magic is another, I can do this on my own, the spell is on my house, only I can lift the spell," "No no, the spell is on OUR house! We must lift the spell together, the spell is on OUR house! .. Rafeal... when I married you it became my house too," I could see the reluctance on his face but I was determined and finally he relented, "I suppose we've been through worse... how hard can it be to find... ah.. what did I need to return with?" "Oh you don't remember?" I had groaned, "The cow as white as milk, the cape as red as blood, the hair as yellow as corn, the slipper as pure as gold," "Right, so how hard can it be to find a slipper a cape... ah..." "Harder than it sounds if you can't even remember it all," I had been right in my assumption that it was going to be harder than it looked, in three days time we had been through quite the journey... but that's another story for another day, it isn't important now, what's important is what happened when that last midnight came and we delivered- with some slight frustration- the ingredients to Claudia, "You've done well, come out on the other side a bit frayed, but done well altogether," she had praised, and without any hesitation, she cast a spell and I was pregnant- just like that, "Now remember," she had warned, "I promised you one child, a child as perfect as child can be, nothing more and nothing less, I will come back when the child is born to confirm that the spell has worked, and then I will collect my payment," Rafe and I were so happy then that we didn't even bother to ask her what payment she required, it was such a stupid decision, but it was the decision we made, and when nine months went by I went into labor.... and had quite the surprise, I did not have merely one child.... I had two_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure you know who the second child is but I'm leaving it until the next chapter anyway


	24. The Ballad Of Morgan Le Fae

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, humans and magic-folk were at peace, however, that time came to an end...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random backstory time about to commence (that's like 60% of the fic though at this point)

"It was awfully kind of Satomi to promise us her army," Stiles mused as he walked, "Yes, I just hope we can contact her when we need to," Derek frowned, "Well I presume that's what these are for," Stiles grinned, showing him the small bag of Wonderland flowers that he had collected into a shoulder-bag, "You already used one of those to speak with Lydia didn't you?" "Yeah, I sent it off, she should be responding to me soon... I hope," he sighed, licking his lips as he stared at the door in front of him, "What's wrong?" Derek asked worriedly, "This is... this is Avalon, I feel bad going in without Lydia but... I know we can't afford to wait on her thanks to that detour to Wonderland... you don't understand but to Fae Folk.... Avalon is the greatest of the great," "Are witches really Fae Folk? I know it sounds stupid and our kind all sort of fall under the umbrella of it but-" "Witches are direct descendants of faeries, the ancient faeries, witches are descendants of faeries and humans, it's why our magic is weaker, more watered down compared to faery magic, but also so simalar," he explained, "I see," Derek mumbled quietly, "Are you sure you do?" Stiles teased, reaching out and grabbing his hand tightly, "Avalon is a sacred place, even most Fae Folk don't get the chance to come here... and if they ever see it they don't STAY... I don't know Derek... I might just be turned around and kicked into the Highlands as soon as my feet touch the ground... we both might," he teased, "Yeah... I'd heard something about that, about Avalon being a place for faery women specifically, are they really so harsh on men?" "Depends on who you are but usually... they don't take kindly to us, it isn't exactly that there's anything wrong with males it's just... the Fae of Avalon, their practices are very much centered on the Divine Mother, one of their most revered Goddesses is Artemis, they live a life of peace and dedicate themselves to who they worship, many become preistesses, it's a very devotional type of life, can you see how it's not very well suited to men?" "Sort of," "That's not to say it's entirely female but..." "But aren't there as many Ascended Masters as there are Ascended Mistresses?" Derek asked in confusion, Stiles hissed, "Don't... call them that, call them Preistesses, it's more polite, you may just be hit with a vase if you go the other route in Avalon, but... yes, there are as many men as women, there are different processes to Ascension, Derek, it's just that Avalon is one of the very few ways of getting a crash course, the other methods are almost exclusively things that have to be chipped away at for years and years, through many trails and tribulations, it's why Avalon is one of the few ways most sought out for those who are capable of Ascending, the slower ways are usually practiced by those who haven't opened their Third Eye at all yet but who still want to Ascend, like Lydia, she's wanted to start practicing since I've known her but without all of her... back when Danny had taken her voice, it made it impossible because she wasn't a Complete Being, someone had taken a part of her, owned part of her essence, so with someone else possessing a part of her very soul it made her incomplete," "Why would you WANT to Ascend so much though? It doesn't sound like a pleasant experience," "It isn't, I don't think, it isn't anything I've ever wanted, but to Fae Folk... it's like becoming a prince or princess, wich sucks too by the way, you don't see Scott all happy chappy about life- well... maybe outside of his princeliness you do- but that doesn't stop children everywhere from wishing they'd grow up and become royalty," "I guess that makes sense..." he muttered, "Right," Stiles said with a deep breath, placing his free hand on the door and squeezing Derek's with the other, "Here goes nothing..."

~+~

"I had a sister?" Scott breathed, "No... but you had a brother," Melissa corrected, still looking downcast, "Where is he? What happened to him?" Scott asked urgently, "Claudia took him for her own, that's why your father turned against magic..." "I don't understand... why would she do that?" "As she said, she would bless us with one child, as perfect as any child could be- and she held true on that promise, Scott, you are a light in this dark world... and every day I thank her for that, for you, but she took the other child, your twin brother, because she too had been cursed..."

_"I don't understand, why won't you give him to me!?" Melissa screamed as she stared up at the witch, "I promised you one child and that's exactly what you have, I said I'd be retreiving payment on this day- that there was something in it for me as well and that's exactly what I'm doing," she paused, holding the baby closer in her free arm as she held the other extended, palm out in preparation to strike if the king came any closer, "I told you when we first met that sometimes nature curses us with the worst curse of all... you were not cursed by nature Melissa, but I was, and no magic can heal me, magic can do a great many things but there are some things that it just cannot do... this was one of them, as much as you have wanted a child, so have I, but where your complications lie with your husband, mine lie with me, it would be best if you kept this a secret, just imagine the uproar, that the prince is a child produced by magic, that there is another child produced by magic supposedly belonging to the king out there somewhere completely unaware of it... those two things would cause more chaos on this land than any chaos before them, and besides, the children are not entirely belonging to you to begin with," "What do you mean?" Rafeal hissed, "Do you really think magic is so powerfull that it can just conjure up a child out of mid-air? Nothing of the sort... the curse placed on your family was to prevent happiness, the one thing each of your kings wanted more than any other would be taken from them, for your grandfather it was his wife, for your father it was his kingdom's wealth, for you it was the ability to have a child... as I said, I cannot break that curse, the only way to break it is to make up for the sins that were committed long ago by your great, great grandfather when the curse was placed to begin with, but just because YOU were cursed does not mean your wife was, these children are born of the flesh and blood of both of you I insured that.... but they are born of the flesh and blood of my husband and I as well, we filled in your gaps, and you filled in our's, it's a perfect match, please.... don't seek me out, and don't raise word of this, it will only end in tragedy for all of us, but especially for your child," she cradled the baby closer and before another move could be made vanished into thin air, never to be seen again_

"I don't believe this..." John said quietly, head hung and hands bracing the back of his neck, "What?" Lydia asked with a small frown, the sheriff shook his head for a long moment before sighing and looking up, "Stiles' mother was a witch... she died when he was only eight-years-old, poisened by a hunter... she was .. I loved her... and to me she was the sun, moon and stars but.... I knew when she came home with Stiles that day that something wasn't right... we had been trying to have a child of our own for years but nothing ever worked, no magic no herbs no nothing.... nothing worked.... and then one morning before the sun is up she comes in with our son... says she found him in the woods alone and abandoned and I should have asked more... I knew something wasn't right with what she was telling me but my happiness at having a family blinded me to that and I didn't ask a word..." "Your wife was Claudia?" Melissa asked quietly, he nodded slowly, "Your story fits, I can't see how somewhere, out there, there's an identical circumstance with a witch named Claudia that fits the timeline, can you?" "So Stiles... Stiles is my brother?" Scott breathed, "Looks like it," John said solemnly, "Scott I .... I never wanted it to come out this way....I'm so-" "Mom it's ok, don't... don't apologize, really," he said quickly, the queen merely nodded her head, taking a deep breath, "That's when your father started hating magic and the older you got the more hatefull he became, in some ways I understood, a witch had taken our child from us... but in other ways I'd never understand, magic gave a child to us, magic didn't take our other child, a person did, but.... your father doesn't see it that way, and Scott, I understand if you want to tell Stiles but please for your own sake and his.... do not tell anyone else, this has to be kept secret, between the five of us here and Stiles, if you want him to know, Claudia was right when she said there would be terrible backlash if anyone found out about all of this," "You know he's going to tell Derek," Lydia said slowly, "I mean, if you tell Stiles- and I think you should- he's not just going to keep his mouth shut, it's good that Issac and I are here, we're his other go-tos, but Derek? Stiles is in love with him, ofcourse he'll tell him," Scott nodded slowly, "Derek is awesome... he's.... he's good, he won't do or say anything to anyone," Scott assured, "For once his power of silence comes in handy," Issac teased, glancing up when a flower suddenly smashed against the window of the carriage, "...Well that moment is over," John muttered as Lydia opened the door just long enough to peel it from the glass, "It's a Wonderland flower, a message from Stiles and Derek... they got trapped in Wonderland for some time but they're on their way to Avalon now.... Stiles says he's sorry that time is so crunched and he didn't have a way to contact me sooner," she said softly, handing the flower to Issac for his evaluation, "Huh... it's a Recorder Flower, I've heard of these, you can send it back to him with a message of your own Lydia, just speak into the center of it and pitch it out the window, it'll find it's way back," she nodded slowly, taking the flower again and sighing as she set it in her lap, ignoring it for the moment, "As if things couldn't get any worse..." she muttered, "What? I thought Stiles needed to end up in Avalon," John frowned, "He does but I was hoping I would be there as.... an assistant, for lack of better word, Stiles has a big mouth and no grace or tact, all he needs is to upset one of the faeries there... not to mention he's been in Wonderland with Derek all this time, who knows if he can even speak with the higher faeries about Ascending now," she mused, "What do you mean? What does Wonderland have to do with it?" Scott asked in confusion, "Wonderland? Not so much, alone with Derek? Quite a bit, Avalon is a very finicky place with alot of rules to abide by when it comes to who can and cannot enter, wile anyone with an opening Third Eye can Ascend, those in Avalon are very picky about who they help, you have to be someone they feel they can trust, and someone who they feel will pay their respects and- for the time atleast- worship the same Goddesses they do," "So?" Melissa prompted, "SO their most highly revered Goddess is Artemis, the Goddess of the Hunt," there was a pause and Lydia rolled her eyes, "Artemis.... also known as the _Virgin Goddess_ , are you seeing my point yet?" "Oh!!!!" Scott said, snapping his fingers and cringing as he sank back in his seat, "Oh.... that... that's my brother you're talking about you know," he pointed out, "Doesn't matter much, if I know Stiles' sexuality he'll be kicked out of Avalon before he gets the door open, if he comes back without being in tatters I'll be shocked," Issac laughed, going pale when he saw the menacing glare the sheriff was giving him, "I mean.... not that we..... Stiles and I never were very fond of eachother that way I was always MUCH more fond of Scott-" he swallowed, shrinking in on himself, "I... really wish that useless witch would summon me right about now so I can get out of here...." Lydia just rolled her eyes again, "Even if Stiles is still... _uncommitted_ when he gets to Avalon, he and Derek are in love, it's only a matter of time before they cross that line, faeries in Avalon stay secluded for their own safety and therefore very very rarely fall in love, they remain virgins as worshippers of Artemis their entire lives, or in some cases commit rituals with love that would bring about certain blessings from the Divine involving... sexuality, to produce heirs for example, but it's never been something that's only true to their hearts and not true to their Goddesses, they're probbably going to ask Stiles to accept being ruled by Artemis, and like an idiot, he's probbably going to say no, in it's self worshiping Artemis doesn't rule over one's sexuality, but in Avalon it's taken as a very serious commitment, it's asking to be accepted into her hunting party, I would never make Stiles agree to that but I have ways of making a more... polite... declination, one that won't step on anyone's toes," she took a deep breath and raised the flower to her lips, "I just hope it gets there in time...."

~+~

"Sugar Pie Honey Bunch! You know that I love you~!" Admittedly, this was not what Derek had in mind when he thought of entering into Avalon, he thought, if anything, Stiles would get more serious, not... not resort to whatever this is... "I can't help myself, I love you and nobody else~!" "Would you quit that!?" Derek groaned, trying to bat the witch off of him, "You know that I'm weak for you~!" Stiles sang dreamily as he tried to get closer, "You are driving me CRAZY! Get ahold of yourself Stiles!" Derek insisted, gripping his arms and shaking him slightly, "I'm crazy for you Big Bad Wolf," He sighed wistfully, "No Stiles, back off, I mean it," he said seriously, "You're so cute _Derry-Bearry_ ," Derek's lip curled and he felt like gagging, "Do not EVER call me that again, you're going to make me puke," he warned, "Awwww you're so CUTE when you lie Derry-Bearry," "Stop that!" "Derry-Bear," "No," "Derry-Bearry Haley-waily," "Shut up Stiles!" he groaned, dragging his hands down his face, "I am so close to wringing your neck..." "Pfft, you are the softest teddy bear in the world," Stiles insisted, "I am NOT a teddy bear Stiles, I am an Alpha werewolf with teeth and claws an-" "And comfy fuuuuurrrrrrr and-" "I am SERIOUS here Stiles, I'm a dark creature of the night, stop trying to turn me into a puppy," "Says the puppy," "Stiles!" "Shhhhh, don't get so angry Darling Der-Bear, you're such a lil cream puff pastry with powdered sugar," "Stiles...!" "You're gonna leak strawberry filling if you keep this up," he giggled, Derek inhaled deeply again and started counting backwards from ten, he wasn't sure if it would work but it was worth a try, "Der-Bear? Sweetcakes? Honey bunches? Fine Petal Fluffy Butt?" that did it, that was the moment when Derek's last twig of dignity finally snapped, "... Fine... Petal... Fluffy Butt...?" "Peach Cheeks?" "Stop it," Stiles slammed himself forward, cupping Derek's face roughly and sighing dreamily at him, "Well that's enough fun for now," Derek heard, turning around and pursing his lips when Stiles just scrambled to get in front of him again, "Who are you?" he asked, a little more sourly than he meant to, when he saw the faery woman in front of him, "Oh don't you worry about me, you can just call me Anna... I see my love potion has taken fair effect," she hummed thoughtfully as Stiles clung to Derek's side, spewing all kinds of nonsense and wrapping himself around Derek like a koala, it was really much less entertaining than it sounded, "Is THAT why he's been acting like a blathering idiot since the moment we stepped foot in this place?" Derek frowned, "More or less, here, let me help you with that," the faery smiled back as she snapped her fingers, Stiles stopped mid-sentence and blinked, stumbling a little and holding his head, "Oh .... God my head hurts.... what just happened?" he frowned, Derek nitted his brows, stepping protectively in front of Stiles, "Good question, I think Anna here was just about to explain that," he said, Anna smiled softly, "We've been waiting on you two, come with me and I'll explain everything, not to mention... I'll introduce you to those who will be helping with your Ascension,"

~+~

"Mom? Why was our family cursed? Did you ever get it broken?" Scott asked quietly, "No ... it hasn't been broken yet, I've always hoped we could find a way before you get too much older, before you're old enough for the curse to take you..." "How do you break it?" "Well... our family has to right the wrongs it committed that got us cursed in the first place, but that's where things get a little complicated, the best way I can think to explain it is with the story that Claudia told when she explained it to us," Melissa replied simply, "What's the story about?" Scott asked, "It's about Morgan Le Fae..." she took a deep breath and leaned back in the carriage as she spoke, "Once upon a time....."

_A very, very long time ago, the world lived mostly in harmony, or... to be more exact, there was harmony between the humans and the supernatural, humans still had their disputes ofcourse, and some of those disputes were in fact with members of other races, but for the most part, we were at peace with eachother.... all of that peace came to an end with a faery named Maleficent, for you see, Maleficent was a faery of immense beauty and power, she was the one who was in charge of keeping the gate between this world and the faery world open and clear of trouble, she was a beautifull soul, that's to be sure, but like all beautifull souls, she was hunted down and turned away from her light... you see, in this long ago time, this world and the faery world were connected, there was no door to be shut, merely a bridge to be crossed, and the kingdom closest to this bridge was having a bit of a problem, the kingdom was at war with another kingdom, and the king- for he was a presumptuous and selfish king- decided to ask Maleficent for her help, decided to ask if the magical realm would lend their assistance in fighting the opposing kingdom, Fae Folk are naturally pacifists, naturally peace-keepers even if they do love to create a little mischeif, Maleficent had never participated in any sort of war, and she wasn't about to start now, so she politely rejected the idea and returned to her home, this, however, left the king enraged, for anyone, and a woman at that- a faery woman no less- to actually refuse him was unheard of to the king, and he sought to have Maleficent destroyed.. broken... to force her to become one of his subjects and lend her magic against her will, so the king sent an army after her and Maleficent rose an army of her own to fight back, and with that, a gate- a border- was built between this land and that with magic, and when Maleficent saw the king's troops come for her, she would close the gate so she could be at peace, unfortunately this only lasted for so long, Maleficent was still a pure-hearted, sweet soul who did not blame all humans at all for the king's power lust, she fell in love with a human boy and spoke to him constantly, unfortunately for her, the boy was not as pure as he seemed, he was an ambitious young man who longed for the king's power and in order to get that power, he stole Maleficent's wings in the night, a faery's wings are like a second heart for them, and Maleficent's hadn't just been stolen... they had been brutally cut from her body, this angered Maleficent so greatly that she cursed the new king's child, but you have heard all of that story I'm sure, what you haven't heard is what happened wile the king's daughter was growing up... to Maleficent, the faery was angry yes, but scared far more, she worked to create walls, borders, barriers, to separate her realm from this one the way so many other realms separated, she sought help from the best of magic kind may they be in Oz or Narnia or Wonderland or anywhere else, and finally, by the time the king's daughter reached her sixteenth birthday, pricked her finger, and fell into a death-like sleep, Maleficent had finished her precautions to close off and separate the faery realm forever, but she didn't pull the trigger... not yet, the king on the other hand had long since made a rule against magical creatures in his kingdom, any found would be put to death, or so he said, but so far there was no proof, for so far, none had traveled into the kingdom, but when the king's daughter broke from her curse she wished to go to the faery world and Maleficent- being still a kind creature despite her fearfullness- welcomed her with open arms and apologized for the curse, and when the king's daughter sent word to her father of her choice to stay, when she sent a young faery there as an assistant to peace, the faery... was cut down by the king, the first faery had been killed, and with her, the trust that the faery world had placed in the humans, Maleficent closed the gates- trying to gather all she could back to her own realm- and the king's daughter felt horror and disgust at his actions so much that she retreated with her so-called faery godmother back into the faery world and created Avalon, a safe space for faery women who wished to keep to themselves, and the daughter of this king, who had once been named Morgain, renamed herself Morgana, or as she became known... Morgan Le Fae_

~+~

"So do you want to maybe tell us why you poured a love potion on me? And for that matter, why neither of us seemed to NOTICE you pouring a love potion on me?" Stiles frowned deeply, "Just to make sure your intentions were pure," Anna replied as they walked towards a temple up ahead of them, "Explain..." "It's a booby trap, you could say, a spell that I rigged up for all those entering who wish to Ascend, if they are of pure intentions the spell mimics a love spell, if they are of ill intentions it mimics a hate spell, simple but effective," she explained, "Huh... interesting," Stiles muttered back, "But can anyone with ill intention really even Ascend to begin with?" Derek asked in confusion as he and Stiles came to sit down on a bench near the temple, "Oh absolutely, people are under the wrong assumption that Ascension happens beneath some sort of great moral high grounds but in reality it's only about your Third Eye opening completely, anyone- regardless of morals- has the potential to do it, we once helped someone Ascend who had dark intentions and... it didn't go well.... but you have nothing to worry about, you passed- with flying colors might I add, so no cause for worry," she assured them, Derek and Stiles exchanged glances, nodding slowly, "I'm afraid the ritual won't be able to start until moonrise, and being that we have a few hours before then, you two should go find a room in the temple or something so you can rest, I'm sure you're tired, Agatha can show you the way," she said, the boys looked up, seeing another faery woman waving them over, they rose to their feet and stared towards her, but with an air of hesitation to them as well, "Is it just me, or does something seem... off?" Stiles asked under his breath, "Actually... I was getting ready to ask you the same thing...."

~+~

"So... how does that apply to us?" Scott asked quietly, "According to Claudia your great, great grandfather killed the wife of a witch in cold blood, in revenge, the witch placed a cure on our family, that each son shall never obtain the thing they want most until the witch had been paid back for these sins, in all of these years no one has even told us how to do such a thing and it seemed your grandfather wasn't willing to tell us about the curse at all," Melissa explained, Scott nodded slowly and leaned back, eyes focused on the window, "Scott? What are you thinking about?" Issac asked slowly, "Just ... about how to break this curse once and for all...."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love actual!brothers!Sciles, it's one of my favorite tropes, but surprisingly I didn't intend that until I was almost half-way done with the fic and that's where I saw my chance and I took it
> 
> Also, honestly, one of my biggest regrets is not being able to add more references from the art that is Strange Magic, but I got that love potion in there by God! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDQva2j-xTQ and this http://thevesselofpie.tumblr.com/post/117246797918/me-im-queen-of-hell-im-the-baddest-bitch-look only proved to motivate the conversation


	25. Lavender's Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time there was a werewolf who loved his witch so much, he was prepared to die for him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is taken from one of the most darling nursery rhymes ever, made better only by Lily James singing it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ubbQ8jYLWM and for some reason since I first heard it I've only been able to think about this being Stiles' and Claudia's special song let me go die in some tears
> 
> Also the **Kate Argent warning** is back in full sway this chapter

"Ugh..." Liam groaned, his head falling backwards as he huffed, "What's the matter? That all you got? I guess being born first really does make a difference," Malia smirked, "Don't get so full of yourself," Erica smirked as she shot ice towards the younger girl, Malia gasped, barely dodging out of the way as she slipped closer to Kira, skating slightly on the ice that had been laid out in front of her, the kitsune just smirked, taking a breath and beginning to summon a ball of fire, only for a peircing, screeching, ringing sound to suddenly shoot through her brain and cause her to stiffen, crying out in agony and holding her head, "Nock it off Mason! You're cheating!" Malia shouted, wrapping her arms around Kira, "There's no such thing as cheating in war," Liam smirked, his twin glared at him, snarling lowly, "Wait... wait a second..." Kira muttered, "Mason... you never told us what you are, did you?" she asked softly, slowly lifting her head back up, Mason stared at her, blinking slowly, "O-Oh um.... I'm a raven, did I not mention that? Really?" he replied with mild curiosity, "A raven..." Kira breathed, "What exactly do ravens do?" Jackson asked, flexing his newly shifted fingers as he looked over his shoulder at the others, "It's alot of mind work... mostly what you just heard, we have deterrents like that, and some telekinesis, a little precognition but not really enough to be usefull in this situation, more like intuition than actual visions, our physical strength is pretty limited though," "Can you turn into an actual raven?" Braeden asked, "Yeah, I can," he nodded, "Then you could do surveillance," Danny suggested, "I don't know about that, what if he gets caught? He can't-" "I'll be fine Liam," Mason replied with an eyeroll, "Well I'm all for it," Parrish said with a shrug and a smile, "You just want him to go check on Lydia for you don't you?" Cora smirked, Parrish blushed slightly, "What? No I-" "It's ok, she's .... nice.... she braided my hair," she mused, picking slightly at the long braid she now sported, "Hm, hard time deciding wich one of you has a crush on her, my sister or the dragon," Laura chuckled, "Shouldn't we be getting back to the important things, you know, training?" Malia interrupted, "We've been at it for a few hours now, it's actually time we had a break," Kira shrugged, slumping slightly against the wall behind her and letting out a deep breath, "Do you want me to go check on the palace? Or the prince? Or... well... anything?" Mason offered, Kira nodded, smiling softly, "If you could make sure that everyone is at the secret location safely I would REALLY appreciate it," she said politely, Mason just smiled back at her, kissing Liam's cheek and running towards the exit of the foxhole, "You sure are _nice_ for a general you know," Malia pointed out, Kira blinked, tilting her head innocently, "Who said anything about me being a general?" "Wow, I can't believe someone exists who's worse with metaphors than my sister," Liam teased, ofcourse, if looks could kill, the one Malia pointed at him would have certainly left Liam nothing but a corpse

~+~

Derek hadn't really noticed how exhausted they both were until now but it was sort of astounding, as soon as they got to the room Agatha lead them to Stiles crashed on the bed and was out like a light, Derek would have liked to say he atleast had the decency to remove his jacket but alas, he was as tired as Stiles was, and by the time Derek woke up again the sky was getting darker, not long after sunset.... Derek groaned, slowly moving his head from Stiles' chest and blinking, he was going to have to wake up the witch... "Don't," He heard, looking up and narrowing his eyes, "Agatha...?" "Leave him, I would just like to speak with you, would you follow me?" she asked softly, Derek swallowed, something deep in his gut told him that this was a terrible idea... but he didn't know what else to do, the last thing he needed was to mess up this Ascension... so he got up and followed willingly, listening to the faery woman speak as they walked, "You know Stiles is really quite smitten with you," she observed, "As I am with him," Derek replied slowly, "He's .. head over heels, otherwise that spell wouldn't have worked nearly so well, you must be someone very special for him to feel this way," she mused, leading Derek outside into the garden, "Not to be rude but... do you have a point?" he asked, "Ah yes I suppose it is better to just cut to the chase... Derek, do you know the process of Ascension?" he shook his head, looking around suspiciously as they walked, "It's both simple and complex, it's three steps- Preparation, Dedication, and finally Ascension, to begin with the Ascended-to-be must prepare to have their third eye opened with a mixture of herbs, crystals, and the like, then they must dedicate themselves to the forces of the Divine and nature, the four elements for example, and finally Ascension, they must recite a certain spell and pledge themselves to the Goddess in order to Ascend, I worry that Stiles will never get to that point," she mused, "Why?" Derek asked, starting to focus more on Agatha than on his surroundings, "To be honest, because of you," Derek flinched, "Me?" "Yes... you see Stiles is so devoted to you, so in love with you, that I believe he would turn his loyalty to you if it was ever to come down to you or the greater good... you or the Goddess... you are... well... anyone and anything, an Ascended must devote themselves to nature more than anything else but Stiles would burn the very earth down around us if it meant saving you for even an extra day," "So... what are you suggesting we do about this problem?" he asked with a frown, tensing when he stared at the river behind her, surely enough, Agatha stepped aside, encouraging him silently to get closer to the river, "Go into the water Derek, let it cleanse you, let it take you... only then will Stiles have a clear enough head and heart to Ascend,"

~+~

Kate inhaled deeply, skulking around the corner and eyeing the room in front of her, she still wasn't entirely sure what she was and she still wasn't entirely sure what caused the change either, all she knew was that now, she had heightened senses, her vision was different, and although she couldn't shapeshift yet- she didn't even think she had the ability to at this point- there was something crawling under her skin, some sort of urge to be something else... to change... to shift... and she was looking- quite hopefully- for an answer, for a reason she may have turned this way, it had occurred to her that the last moments she remembered being human were from the night before when she was in Allison's room, and so here she was now, searching for anything that may have triggered the unusual event, any trace of magic in the hopes of finding exactly what did this to her... and more specifically, what she had even become in the first place, she was almost desperate for answers... and as she was preparing to leave the empty room she opened her mouth, inhaling again and feeling a strange taste on her tounge, something that tasted ... strangely like a scent... she turned, keeping her mouth open and even licking her lips as she approached the dresser in front of her, opening the top drawer, the taste/scent was getting stronger and Kate was determined to find out what it was, so she rifled through the drawer a few times before emerging with exactly what she was looking for- a small bottle with some sort of pink glittery substance inside and attached to a necklace, "Well well... hello there," she grinned, having exactly what she needed now, having the faery dust she needed now...

~+~

 

_Hissing..._

_Slithering..._

_Red eyes..._

_Gold eyes..._

_Hissing..._

_Tail..._

_Scales..._

_Slither...._

_Slither..._

_Bite.._

_Fangs..._

_Pain..._

_Bite..._

_Bite...._

_Fangs..._

Stiles gasped and jerked upwards, swallowing and panting as he looked around the room, "Derek?" he croaked, rubbing his eyes with his hands and groaning, "Derek?" he repeated, when he was given no answer he frowned more and got up, looking out through the windows and noting that the sun was almost down, so he inhaled deeply and huffed in frustration, shaking his head and starting on his way out of the temple, hoping he could track Derek with a locator spell or something so he could get through this quickly, it was bad enough that he had just had a vision frightening enough to give him an early heart attack, but Avalon... as many good things as he had heard about it, he just didn't trust it, not all the way atleast, and Derek not being there, leaving no trace... that really rubbed him the wrong way, he just hoped he was wrong...

~+~

 _"Come to the water Derek... come away to the water.... come into the water Derek... it'll feel so much better in the water Derek... come on... just one more step... one more step and it'll all be over.. you can do this Derek, you are the only thing standing between Stiles and the Ascension.. between winning or losing this war... you can save him Derek, you can save everyone.. just one more step now... into the water Derek..."_ He couldn't lie, it was tempting... to think that he was standing in the way of Stiles Ascending, standing in the way of anything Stiles wanted or needed to do or anything that could save his sisters.... it was a terrible thought to have, and the voices he was hearing played right to it... he took a step closer to the water, peering down at it before turning back to Agatha, "No," he said, softly but sternly, and all of a sudden the voices stopped, just ... completely stopped... "No? You won't do it?" she asked skeptically, "No, I don't believe you, you're just a few days late... a few days ago, I would have believed you, a few days ago I would have stepped into the water without a second thought... but that's changed now," "Oh has it really?" she asked mockingly, "Yeah... I don't know what you people want with Stiles, but I know that anyone who knows him at all knows that the way to make him stronger isn't to break his heart, that can only ever make him weaker," "And you believe you have the power to break his heart?" "Yeah, I do... and he has the power to break mine," the two of them stared at eachother for a long moment before Agatha broke into a smile, patting his arm gently, "It's good to see that, Stiles needs someone strong-willed, you have that," "So... this was all a joke? You never wanted me to drown?" Derek asked in confusion, "Well... yes and no... we needed to test you, if you went through with it we would know you weren't fit for Stiles and it was better off this way, if you didn't- and you didn't- we could learn to accept you, but be warned, Stiles must devote himself to Avalon and the Goddesses who grant him his power, yet his heart belongs to you, I'm not sure what that will mean for him when it comes time for him to Ascend, but it may not be good, please prepare for that, if it comes down to having another Ascended or allowing him to trade away his gift for ... what? True love? We will always do what it takes to help him Ascend," she said, walking into the fog and seeming to vanish into thin air, Derek felt his heart ache and he swallowed roughly, slipping down slowly against the trees behind him and hanging his head, he felt a blip of doubt in his heart but that blip vanished almost instantly when he heard Stiles' voice, "Derek! There you are! I've been looking all over for you, God don't scare me like that!" Stiles shouted with releif as he ran towards him, "Derek?" he asked, the releif drained and replaced with worry, "Derek... how come you're out here like this? What's going on?" "It's nothing-" "Don't give me that crap, I may not be a werewolf but I know when you're lying," he said sternly, Derek just stared up at him, climbing to his feet and draping his arms loosely across Stiles, giving him a tight squeeze and nuzzling into his neck, inhaling his scent deeply and just... just needing to have more of him, all of him... "Derek?" he asked quietly, wrapping his arms slowly around Derek's back, "Hey... are you ok Big Bad Wolf? What happened?" "I'm fine," he muttered back, not moving his mouth from being pressed against Stiles' neck, the witch sighed, clearly not believing him, but Stiles... Stiles can never leave things as they are either... _"Lavender's blue dilly dilly, lavender's green, when I am king dilly dilly you'll be my queen, who told you so, dilly dilly? Who told you so? Twas my own heart, dilly dilly, that told me so, lavender's green dilly dilly, lavender's blue, if you love me dilly dilly I will love you, let the birds sing dilly dilly and the lambs play, we shall be safe dilly dilly out of harm's way,"_ Derek looked up, finally, backing away just enough to still be in arm's reach but no longer burried in Stiles' neck, "Where'd you learn that? It's pretty," he said softly, offering Stiles his hand, "My mom used to sing it to me before..... it was our ... our thing, I've never... ever since...." he said quietly, sighing as he failed to articulate the words but placing his hand in Derek's anyway and leading him back towards the temple, "Mine was Over The Rainbow," he said after beat, Stiles glanced up at him, as if waiting for him to expand on that thought, but he didn't know what to say, and so he just repeated what he had from memory instead, _"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, there's a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby, some day I'll wish upon a star and wake up where the clouds are far behind me, where troubles melt like lemon drops, way above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me, somewhere over the rainbow, blue birds fly, birds fly over the rainbow, why, then why can't I?"_ Stiles smiled softly and squeezed his hand tightly as they walked, "That's pretty too," he said softly, Derek just nodded his acknowledgement and they were silent until they reached the temple again, it wasn't an uncomfortable or awkward silence at all, in fact, it was probbably the most peacefull silence either of them had ever felt

~+~

"Hello Allison," Allison's heart jumped and she paused, barely in the doorway of the room, "Aunt Kate.... what a surprise, what are you doing here?" "Oh not much, I was just trying to come up with some ideas on how to locate our missing prince... when I happened in here and just stumbled upon this," she hummed, dangling the Pixie Dust necklace in front of her, Allison swallowed roughly, "Where..?" "Oh don't worry! I won't ask how or where it came from... or why you have it, I mean it's really no concern of mine, but your parents... now they might be rather curious, especially your mother..." "W-Why would you-" "Oh don't worry," she repeated, "I would never dream of telling her, but here's the thing, I really need your help tracking down the prince, and I KNOW you know where he is, I can just ... sense... this sort of thing, so, help me find our prince and this little wish maker will stay our little secret," Allison pursed her lips, body tense, "Why do you care so much about the prince?" she asked softly, after all her aunt had never seemed to take much interest in the royal family before and didn't exactly seem like the patriotic type, "An excellent question! You see Allison, very soon, I'm going to need a favor or two from the king, and if I'm the one who returns his son, you could say he might be in my debt, you're familiar with the concept right?" "Yes..." "Good! Then I don't have to explain it! Now here's the thing, just to make sure we understand eachother, if your mother should happen to get ahold of this necklace she'll be able to track whoever gave it to you and I can't imagine that would be good for the little faery, so... what'll it be? The faery, or the prince?"

~+~

"You think one of the Argents is a snake?" Derek asked skeptically, "Yeah, as a matter of fact I happen to KNOW one of the Argents is a snake, a lamia, I'm just not sure who it is, all I saw was the basics.. you know... fangs and hissing and scales? That sort of thing," "Then how do you know it was an Argent at all?" "Because I just... I just FELT it..." Stiles sighed back, "I don't know how to explain it to be honest... I mean... God Derek.... are we SURE Scott got to Allison in time?" "Yeah, I'm sure... or.... Issac was pretty sure," he frowned, "I don't know then," Stiles muttered, flopping against the wall behind him and dragging his hands down his face, "I don't know I mean... it could be Allison... maybe not, maybe it's just some relative of her's.. I should've probbably paid more attention to-" "Wait wait," Derek said quickly, making Stiles pause and raise an eyebrow, "What?" "Argent.... Allison... ARGENT...." he cursed loudly, kicking at the floor and taking a steady breath, "How did it not click before? Ofcourse it WOULD be her..." "Derek? What is it?" Stiles frowned, "Allison... ARGENT... she works for the king... I bet she has an aunt named Kate," he muttered, Stiles shrugged, "She could, she could also have an uncle named Chester, what's your point?" "I know Kate Argent," he said bluntly, Stiles sat up a little straighter, leaning back and staring up at him as the werewolf hid his face in his hands, head tilted towards the ceiling, "Derek.... what do you mean you know Kate Argent? Are you sure she-" "No I'm not sure, Argent is a common hunting name, it's a BIG family but... how many hunters work for the king? Do you know?" Stiles shook his head and shrugged, "I really don't, sorry, no more than I'd say... three... MAYBE four families though... the chances of there being more than one Argent out of three or four is pretty slim I guess... who's Kate Argent?" Derek swallowed, crossing his arms over his stomach as if he were about to be sick and closing on himself, "She's the woman who ruined my life..."

~+~

"There's one thing I don't understand, what about King Arthur? I thought he was supposed to be supportive of the Faery Folk," Scott said with confusion as he got out of the carriage, "You really do take after me," Melissa smiled, wrapping her arm around his shoulders as they walked into the small house that was owned by Stiles and the sheriff, "I asked Claudia the same thing and yet for some reason she just waved me off... but then Claudia waved me off about alot of things now that I think of it so perhaps that isn't so strange," Scott nodded wordlessly, staring at the house, it looked so... disrupted... there was food on the counter- spoiled by now- and a pot there that still held a bit of water, there were some books and pouches with various herbs in a corner on the floor and the closet door was broken in several places, candles around with wax that had been freshly dripped onto the floor, there were so many little details, little nuances that screamed "Someone was just here" and yet Scott new that it had been days- close to a week now perhaps- since there was last a resident, it just hit him so much harder that everything had been abrupt, he still wasn't clear on how it all went down, just that the Royal Guard had come to take Derek away in the middle of the evening and Derek had locked Stiles away in an attempt to protect him, it was.... so eerie... seeing the signs of life dusted over and ruined like this, abandoned, he figured Stiles must have gone after Derek immediately but he had never stopped to think about just how immediate it may have been, it made his heart hurt to realize how much his father- his guard, his soldiers, his people- had taken away from his _own brother_ , and the evidence of that loss all laid out here in scraps and spoils, "Leave it to my son to reign in a wild horse wile I'm away," John grunted as he walked into the house, "I guess I should just feel lucky that he had the forethought to leave all the hay we had out available so the poor thing didn't STARVE, how many days has it been since he was last here?" he asked absently as he started to pick up and clean away odds and ends, "I... I don't know... several? Less than a week, more than three days..." he mumbled, the sheriff grunted and made some mutter of a noise in the back of his throat, "I'll have to take care of that horse... probbably now.." he muttered, "Don't worry about it, Lydia has taken up the opportunity," Issac groaned as he trudged into the building, the three humans exchanged confused glances and slowly walked towards the door, peering out to see Lydia perched atop one of the fence posts and conducting spell after spell to clean up and feed and groom and care for the horse, singing all the way, _"Now's your moment, floating in the blue lagoon, boy you better do it soon, no time will be better, and she don't say a word and she won't say a word until you kiss the girl~"_ "You know for some reason this feels unusually appropriate..." John mused quietly, "Must be deja vu or something," Scott reasoned with a shrug, at about that moment the singing abruptly stopped, a raven landing beside her on the opposite fence post and shapeshifting suddenly into a man, "Mason, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Lydia smiled politely, "I just wanted to come and make sure you all got here safely," he replied with a smile, "We're all good here, what about those back in the foxhole?" "Exhausted mostly, Kira isn't taking it easy on us at all," he chuckled, "I'm not surprised, she could be an army general if she wanted to be," Lydia chuckled, "Yeah, you mean when she isn't cuddling kittens," he grinned, "Mm, I've seen stranger," Lydia shrugged back, "Mason... do you think you could do me a favor before you return to the foxhole?" "Hm? Sure, what is it?" she fidgeted slightly, staring up at him, "Do you think you could visit someone else for me and make sure she's doing alright?" "Sure, who is it?" "Allison Argent,"

~+~

"The woman who ruined your life.... she's the one who massacred your family isn't she?" Stiles asked gently, Derek flinched but gave a slow nod, Stiles inhaled, thinking on that for a moment, "Was she also the one who gave you those wounds a few nights ago?" Derek jerked his head up, staring at Stiles uneasily, "How did yo-" "Just a lucky guess," he interrupted, Derek sighed, nodding slowly, "I see...." Stiles added tensely, "Kate did all of this... she's the reason for all of it it seems..." "No..." Derek said quietly, head hung and eyes squeezed shut, "'No'?" Stiles echoed in surprise, "I am.... I... I'm responsible for all of this," he said quietly, squeezing in tighter to himself, trying to make himself look small, and Stiles couldn't help the thought that ran through his head after that, the way Derek looked, _'He's so small, so fragile... such a gentle thing...'_ , he swallowed roughly and inhaled deeply through his nose, "I don't believe you," he said sternly, "Stiles-" "If you're so sure you're guilty of this, then why don't you tell me the story Derek? Just... tell me the story," Derek glanced up at him, sadness rippling in his eyes as he slowly sank to the ground beside him, taking a shakey breath, "You want a story? Alright then," he hugged himself tighter, "I'll tell you.... once upon a time...."

_I had just lost my first love, a girl named Paige, I had met her in Wonderland long ago, she was a World Jumper and many thought she would one day become an Alice... but she died before she could, I was hurting, and that made me vulnerable, and that made me stupid, I sat outside one evening picking herbs from my family's garden and promised myself that nothing in this world would ever break my heart again... I was so very stupid.. and a few moments into the sun going down I began to hear a tune, specifically... a faery tune... **"Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, remember me, the one who lives there, for he once was a true love of mine,"** my heart skipped a beat, the faery music was like a lure... drawing me in... that was common of faery music ofcourse, I decided to go towards it, I was a werewolf, naturally I wouldn't get caught under the enchantment the way a human would, it was safe, and I could allow the faery music to relax my mind for a moment, atleast... that's what I thought.... **"Tell him to make a cambric shirt, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, without any seam or needlework, then he'll be a true love of mine,"** and so I walked towards the sound of the music and stepped into the woods, deeper and deeper until I was quite a ways in, and that's when I saw her, with a bright smile and blonde waves of hair, she seemed everything like a faery I'd heard of, she lacked the wings, but I thought maybe... maybe she had lost them, perhaps they'd been taken from her or perhaps she never had them to begin with and rather than a faery I was looking at a nymph or an elf or something else... I couldn't quite pick up a faery scent on her so I thought she must be something I'd never met before, perhaps a Dryad, one who's scent I had never caught, she smiled at me like I was the sun and I fell for it... I fell for her... and we would meet in the woods every few nights, every night on some occasions, and for a wile, she would sing love songs to me, and I would shift and run through the woods, I never understood at first why she never ran with me, it had always been my understanding that Fae Folk could keep up with shapeshifters, but I didn't dwell on it, looking back, I really should have... she sang of wolves, of the legends that I told her about my people, the legends I let flow from my mouth like water from a stream, and she would retell them for me in song only a few nights later, **"When I run through the deep dark forest long after this begun, where the sun would set, the trees were dead, and the rivers were none, and I hoped for a trace would lead me back home from this place, but there was no sound there was only me and my disgrace,"** and eventually these legends started becoming secrets, I would tell her so much more than I should about my family, my home, about werewolves... but she would always smile when I told her and that was enough for me, and just as those voices of legends turned to secrets, her songs of love turned to hate, **"Don't you try to tell me someone's waiting, they're not waiting, for you, oh and don't you try to tell me that you're wanted, that you're needed, 'cause it's not true, I know why you're lonely, it's time you know it too, no one will ever love you, no one will ever love you, no one will ever love you, like I do,"** it was those sorts of songs that she began to sing to me and I was so in love that I believed them, every last word, I had believed her ballads of affection and I believed her laments of rejection just the same, I had fallen in love with a fairytale of a woman- one who was not real, one who was fiction, yet I believed her, I believed in her the way people believe in angels when they pray, and the way children believe in monsters under their beds before they sleep, **"I'm all you've got, I'm all you'll ever need, I'm all you'll ever have..."** , I believed those words and because I believed them I became desperate to please her, I didn't want to lose **all I would ever have** , so I let her take what she wanted no matter how precious it was to me, my heart, my power, my voice, my body... I gave it all up to her hoping that at some point it would be enough, but she always wanted more, until all I had left to give her was my life, and she tried to take that too, I don't know exactly what compelled her to burn us to the ground when she did, but I think it was because of what I had done... the day before our house burned I went looking for Kate in our usual spot in the woods, she was late, wich was becoming more and more typical, but I would wait it out like I always did, because I had nothing to lose by waiting but everything to lose by walking away, that's what I thought atleast... this time was different though, when I went to wait on her I wasn't alone, there was a faery woman there, sobbing desperately, and when I asked what was wrong... she told me of a woman with waves of blonde hair and a smile like sunlight who took her voice from her- her singing voice that is, I tried so hard not to believe it, I wanted so BADLY not to believe it, but the description was so close... and when I finally saw Kate that day I confronted her, she confessed to stealing the voices of the Fae Folk and using them to lure me in, claiming it was out of love, I knew that was a lie when my house and family were ashes the next day, but don't you see? Don't you see how this is all my fault?_

"No, actually, I don't see how it's your fault at all," Stiles replied, Derek pursed his lips, glaring at him, "Stiles-" "Stiles?" Derek was cut off as he and Stiles stared up at the faery who had just entered the temple, "It's time to begin,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Interestingly, I immediately thought of Derek and Talia's song being "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" for some reason, and I love Peter Hollens' version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxRWaaHvipg
> 
> Now imagine Derek singing just like that to his kids thinking about his mom and let me go rip my heart out of my chest again
> 
> Kiss The Girl- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXmLRHnoSAs
> 
> Scarborough Fair- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPIefnvgEic
> 
> Wolf- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czj7SyPNRto
> 
> No One Will Ever Love You - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omQ58WMsoJQ
> 
> P.S. I really don't mean to make the Fae Folk of Avalon look too horrible, I actually love everything and everyone Avalon related but that's just the turn it took and.. irk...


	26. The Mists Of Avalon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time there was a witch who decided to take on more power than he ever wanted for the sake of others....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must admit, there is an implied sex scene in this chapter, but as it's implied (and lightly at that) I don't think I should up the rating to M, also implied bottom!Derek is a must *cough*
> 
> Also if you've never read or watched The Mists Of Avalon you should, it's a really lovely peice!

Allison felt sick, nothing... nothing was right about any of this and she still wasn't sure how she was going to get through it, she had already promised to take Kate to Scott later- "He's being moved now, it would take too long to search the roads" she had said- but once she started... she stared down at the Pixie Dust and felt her heart ache, remembering Lydia's words and closing her eyes before taking a steady breath, when she opened her eyes again she gasped and stepped back, a raven now staring right at her, "What do you want Raven?" she asked, as if expecting an answer, and to her surprise the raven fluttered, shapeshifting into a human form once again, "Who are you?" she asked cautiously, reaching inside the room for her bow and an arrow from her quiver, "H-Hang on! Lydia sent me!" he said quickly, she blinked, lowering her hands, "I'm Mason, I don't think we were ever propperly introduced," "Ah yes... I think I remember hearing of you.. is everything ok with Lydia?" "O-Oh yeah she's fine! She's great, everything there is a-ok, she just wanted me to make sure you were ok," he explained, Allison smiled softly, ofcourse that's why she sent him... "I mean... is everything ok?" he asked, Allison tensed, this was her chance, her chance to tell someone, to get help- any kind of help... but she swallowed that chance, she was going to do this on her own, protect Scott and Lydia on her own, she could do that much... so she smiled, relaxing her posture and keeping any sign of worry away just as she had been trained to do, "Everything is perfectly fine,"

~+~

"This water is cleansing, it will help you to relax and get more in touch with your power," Anna explained as lead Stiles towards the small pond in front of them, although admittedly it seemed more like a bath than a pond, "Right..." he muttered, squeezing Derek's hand and looking up at him, "Derek, you alright with this?" he asked cautiously, Derek blinked in surprise, not even having the chance to respond before one of the other faeries spoke, "Stiles... this is something you must do alone, it's only for those who are potential Ascendants," she said, Stiles frowned, narrowing his eyes, "No offense, but I'd be much more comfortable with this if I had Derek, so unless there's some sort of actual RULE against it, like it won't WORK if I bathe with someone else..." he said slowly, the three faeries who had gathered exchanged confused glances before the third spoke, "Ofcourse, please relax in the water wile we prepare the rest of the ritual, we'll leave you both in peace now," she said as she pulled the other two away, Anna seemed fairly willing to accept this change of pace, the other faery however.. not so much.. "Well that was a little extreme, don't you think?" Derek frowned as Stiles peeled off his shirt, "No, considering the last time I let my guard down here my fiance' ended up half-way across the garden about to go into a panic attack, I think it's perfectly reasonable not to want you out of my sights," he replied, slipping his pants off, Derek looked instinctively at the ceiling of the gazebo they were standing in, starting to pull his own shirt off, although quite a bit more slowly, "You're _awfully_ protective given the circumstances," he mused, his shirt falling to the ground as his hands went to his waist band, "Circumstances? Pray tell, what are these circumstances?" Stiles asked, leaning against the ledge behind him, "I'm a werewolf, you're a witch, I'm-" "What? Bigger than me? Because that's debatable, you're more powerfull than me then? Because I'm the one about to Ascend here, because you're older than me? Well I would think a nice young Alpha like you would know better than to judge by age," he mused, Derek just sighed, pulling his pants off and swallowing roughly, "I just... I mean I get that Danny has this idea of witches leashing the shapeshifters they're with bu-" "Danny is full of it, that or he and Jackson are even closer than I thought and really, I could get behind that theory- ... do you want me to not look?" he asked, interrupting his own train of thought when he realized how shy Derek seemed to be, "No... no it's ok," he muttered back, turning slowly and licking his lips nervously, Stiles offered him a small smile, trying to concentrate on the nervous look on Derek's face rather than the beauty that had just been revealed to him, "Don't look so skittish, I'm not about to skin you or anything you know," he mused, taking his hand gently and leading him to the pond, "Yeah..." he mumbled back, unable to stop himself from letting his eyes stray to Stiles' pale, mole speckled skin, "Like what you see?" the witch grinned, "Yes, isn't that obvious?" Derek replied quickly, Stiles just grinned more, leaning up and kissing him adoringly as he stepped into the water, "I like what I see too... we're going to have to remedy this 'look but don't touch' situation here when I'm not about to undergo a divine ritual," he mused as he sank into the water, surprised at how pleasantly warm it was, "I agree," Derek said softly, watching as Stiles leaned back and started to stretch into the water, Derek, however, just stayed where he was, submerged from the chest down but sitting still, "It isn't that I buy into that thing about witches being more powerfull than shapeshifters," he continued from earlier, sinking down and letting the water rise up to cleanse his neck, "I just feel very protective of you, and I think that's normal, you seem to be pretty protective of me too, isn't it just... natural? To feel like you want to take your love by the hand and hide them away from the darkness in this world?" he asked, running his now wet fingers through his hair, "I suppose.. .I've really never thought about it before," he confessed, "But what do you feel right now? Do you feel that way now?" he asked curiously, "I.... yes... I think so," he admitted, Stiles smiled, swimming closer and resting a hand on Derek's leg, "It's nothing to look so guilty about Derek, for God's sake... let yourself feel, for _Goddess'_ sake let yourself have a break from thinking and feeling like everything in the world depends on you being as stern and serious as possible and that even if you can fall in love it's still not wise of you to let yourself _love them_ ... Derek..." he sighed, moving closer to him again, "Derek," he repeated, "I am .... I am not ever, ever going to let this go, I am not ever going to stop feeling like I want to jump in front of any amount of pain that ever comes your way, don't even think about this anymore because it won't change, you aren't the only one who can be an overprotective idiot you know," he said with a teasing smile, moving back in the water and letting himself go completely under, Derek swallowed uncomfortably, watching the space in the water where Stiles had sunk down and feeling his stomach sink nervously, "Stiles?" he called worriedly, starting to sink lower himself and pausing when Stiles suddenly sprang back up and stared at Derek, "See? You worry about me too," he smiled, swimming closer and climbing into his lap, Derek leaned back and allowed Stiles to wrap his arms around his neck, bodies pressed together as they stared at eachother, "What's your point? I already knew that," a smile played on the witch's lips and he leaned closer, "My point? I wasn't demonstrating anything," he hummed, letting his hands wander down Derek's shoulders, "I will always come when you call though," "Shouldn't I be the one saying that to you?" he asked softly, leaning up and allowing the witch's hands to travel his back, Stiles hummed thoughtfully, closing his eyes and pressing their heads together, "Now who's buying into what Danny says?" "I'm not, just.... you're going to Ascend..." "Yeah and to hell with Ascension if it takes me away from you," he said quickly, "I'll put everything I have on the line to stop this war and keep my loved ones safe, everything, that is... except my heart, I won't trade my ability to love- I won't trade my dad or Scott or Lydia or you or anyone else- for some stupid power to stop a senseless war... if I have to Ascend to protect the people I love I'll just find another way to Ascend, but Derek... you are my soulmate, do you know what that is?" "A twin soul, not two halves of the same like people think but... twins," Stiles smiled and nodded slowly, "Yeah... so I have the freedom to give up all of myself to love all of you and that's what I'm doing, can you understand that?" "I'm doing the same thing, ofcourse I can," Stiles just grinned brighter, fingers tracing the tattoo on Derek's back, "Why do you have a triskele?" he asked softly, "I got it after the fire... the triskele represents past, present, and future, I... just wanted a reminder of my family, of the pain I had caused and... something that will push me to atone for that," "Atone... like you've got a single thing in the world to atone for," he snorted, shaking his head slowly and moving slightly against Derek's hips, tilting his head up with his index finger as the werewolf stared up at his deep whiskey eyes and dripping sienna hair, "You're so strange," Derek observed quietly, his heart skipping a beat at the motion as Stiles nuzzled against him, "Mm-hm, and you're stranger," he hummed back, Derek bit his lip, wrapping his arms around his back and leaning his head back, "Are you sure we should be doing this?" "We aren't doing anything yet," Stiles hummed, "But... aren't you the one who just said you're about to go through a sacred ... divine ritual... is now really the ti-" "Derek, I don't care, all I care about is if you want this or not, ok? Really, please don't... don't ever think.. just don't ok?" "But aren't these waters supposed to be purifying you?" "And you think this is anything less than purity?" he scoffed, tilting his head up and staring straight into his soul through his eyes, "I'm so sad to hear that the werewolves don't teach what they used to about expressing love to your mate," "They do but... I don't know how witches or... Fae Folk... I don't want to screw this up for you," he frowned, a pinched looking crossing his face, Stiles inhaled and leaned his head against Derek's, "Listen to me, I don't know where people started getting the idea- wait... yes I do, _humans_ ugh... they ruin everything... - they started getting this idea that sex is something to be ashamed of, that it's something ... dirty or impure or wrong... that isn't true, sexuality is an expression of yourself just like anything else about you, and to share that with someone else? That's a beautifull thing, it's a light thing, Derek... I'm in love with you, and wanting to connect like this? That's just a physical expression of the words I keep saying, it's a flesh reaction to what my heart is feeling, it's trying to connect our souls with bones and skin and blood in the way, Derek, it's just as pure as anything else, don't let someone try to make you believe otherwise, these waters would be just as clean and so would I, and with Fae Folk especially this is all true... Fae Folk- many of whose practices witches follow- believe in the ancient ways, believe that touch is an important thing, a wonderfull thing, a loving thing, I get that Avalon... Ascending... there are some things about that, things I don't really understand but they seem to be more... traditional.. but... this isn't wrong, I promise, so alot of the faeries here have a special place in their hearts for Artemis, it isn't as big of a deal as they're making it out to be, and to be honest, they're really just annoyed that I've given my _heart_ to you, at this point, my body is a lost cause," he smirked, Derek smiled weakly, tightening his grip around Stiles' back, "I will never, ever push you Derek, but I also will never, ever let you believe that there is anything in the world wrong with loving someone with your full body, ok?" he asked softly, starting to pull back, Derek pulled him forward, shaking his head and clutching his hands tighter and leaning in, ducking his head into the crook of Stiles' neck and biting down gently against his pulse, hesitant to mark the flesh with his teeth, "Go on," Stiles prompted, Derek's eyes flickered up at him, still a little uncertain, but soon closed again, biting into his neck and sucking on the skin, allowing Stiles to dig his fingers into the skin of his shoulders, "You wolves and your marking oh my God... ofcourse that's the first thing you want to do," he breathed, a beat skipping before he added to his thought, "I don't mind though, I love it, it's good.. you're good Derek," he breathed, the words made Derek's heart flutter like butterfly wings, Stiles thought things of him that he never believed anyone could, Stiles was the first person in so long that Derek can't even remember to actually say he was _good_ , and it made him feel light and heavy all at once, it made him shudder and made his heart leap into his throat and his mind buzz, Stiles... even without being a witch, Stiles was full of a magic that Derek couldn't even begin to understand... "And what's the first thing you'd like to do?" Derek asked softly, Stiles smirked, "Well why don't I show you?" he hummed, leaning down to wisper in his ear, "I still need to hear you though Derek, I still need your consent," Derek exhaled in a snort, pulling him closer only to suddenly roll a little deeper into the water, allowing Stiles to sit on the ledge of the pond now and for himself to perch in his lap, " _I consent_ , do you need it in writing?" Stiles just laughed, pulling him down and arching into him, "No that's quite alright, I trust your words Derek, I always will,"

~+~

"The question is much less about weather or not Miss Argent can accomplish this and much more about weather or not she'll be willing to in my opinion," Deaton mused as he crossed his arms over his chest, "She IS a hunter yes, but she's something else too," Morrell pointed out, "Oh?" "Yes, she's a survivor, a self-preservationist at her finest, on any other day I would agree with you, but now that she's one of our kind I believe her desire to remain alive and kicking will far out weigh her desire to destroy supernatural kind," she added, "You may be right.... all except for the Hales that is," he commented, Morrell nodded slowly, "Yes... but then the Hales always seem to be the exception to the rule, don't they?"

~+~

"I'm not sure what I expected," Anna said with a playfull smile as she lead Stiles to the stone table in the center of the garden, Derek following close behind them, "I don't know what you're talking about," Stiles teased, "I'm sure the Goddesses won't mind," "See? That's what I've been telling Derek," Stiles mused, swallowing a bit nervously as he laid down on the table, "Yes but there are others here who are a little more... stern... on their beleifs, and they certainly won't appreciate it," she explained, "Yeah I think I've met a couple of them," Derek grunted under his breath, Stiles glanced at him but said nothing, "You know Mr. Wolf, you're the first outsider to ever observe this practice, feel honored," she mused, Derek swallowed, nodding nervously, "I do," he added quickly, watching as a line of faeries in elaborate robes came towards them, each carrying something that looked sacred, jewels, herbs, stones, ink... all of it seemed to suit the occasion, in the distance music began to play, Derek wasn't entirely sure of what music meant to faery rituals but he knew it was important, and as he stared at the blank expression on Stiles' face, he was starting to think he was more nervous than the witch about all of this... he reached out, taking his hand and squeezing, relaxing slightly when Stiles squeezed back, "You don't want this, do you?" he asked quietly, "I'm indifferent," Stiles muttered back, "I would never have pursued it on my own, no, but ... the circumstances calls for it so... it isn't like it's anything bad," he said quietly, Derek felt his gut wrench, knowing that he was standing by and allowing Stiles to go through with a life-altering thing that he clearly didn't want to do made him want to stop the entire thing... but he knew better, he knew Stiles, and he knew that as long as Stiles could keep his heart and atleast some of his head in tact he would do anything it took to win this war, to protect the people he loved once and for all... and nothing Derek could say or do was going to change that he felt certain.. so, with nothing else he could offer, he merely stepped back and watched, the process started with the herbs, some of them being laid on Stiles' body but most of them placed around him, Stiles closed his eyes as candles began to light themselves around them and the faeries started setting the crystals and stones in place, for this they instructed Stiles to lay still with his palms open and he actually did so without questioning them, it was definately a surprise not to hear his usual attitude, but he was quiet and still... alarmingly so in fact, "I'm fine," he said suddenly, spooking Derek slightly, he wasn't entirely sure how Stiles knew what he was thinking but then.... Ascension... "Right," he said quietly, watching as they layered stones and crystals around the table, around the witch, and even on top of Stiles, in fact, one of the most notable things to mention was a veil of jewels that was placed on his head securely and covered everything between his mouth and crown, a slight V to the top of it were a single Moonstonne was placed, "Have you decided on your symbols yet?" one of the faeries asked, Stiles took a breath, "Yeah," he said quietly, peeking an eye open and glancing at Derek, gesturing him forward, "I actually wonder if I can ask a favor, if it's alright,"

~+~

"I'm glad you decided to do this Allison, I think it's in your best interests," Kate said with a smile as she followed Allison through the woods, "Yes... I just... I want to do the right thing," she said softly, squeezing the bottle of Pixie Dust in her hand tightly- though carefull not to tighten her grip hard enough to break the glass bottle, "And you are doing the right thing, I firmly believe that showing me where the prince is hiding is in the best thing for everyone involved," Kate said with a smile, "Yes well.... if only I WAS going to show you where the prince was hiding," as soon as she said it Kate turned around, eyes starting to sink yellow as Allison quickly opened the bottle and poured the Pixie Dust out in front of her, "I wish that Kate Argent and Scott McCall will never cross paths," she said quickly, and for a moment, it seemed as if time had stopped, until the Pixie Dust faded and Kate stepped forward, clicking her tounge as if this were all one big inconvenience, "Mm... you should have made a better wish," she said slowly, her tounge beginning to fork as scales started to encroach up her skin, "I hate to tell you this Allison... but you just made a big, big mistake..."

~+~

Derek watched Stiles anxiously as he walked slowly towards the center of the faery ring, stepping delicately over the herbs that made up the ring and slowly shrugging off his robe, Stiles was different now, his body littered in marks, most of it was paint but there were now some tattoos adorning his flesh as well, the center of his back carried the Tree Of Life with a key in the center, the symbols for life and unlocking, the small of his back, just over his hips, carried the symbol of Oroborous- a tattoo that Derek now sported as well in the same location- the symbol of eternity, infinity, and beginning at the end, the nape of his neck was adorned with the elven star- otherwise known as the seven-point star, wich represented seven points of connection to nature, but the septagram represented much more than just that, seven has always been a holy number and dictates much of human as well as natural and magical practices, he had joked about wanting more tattoos like the Tripple Goddess and a chalice but reasonably Derek knew that he couldn't handle any longer, the process may have been mostly painless, dripping the Pixie Dusted infused ink into his skin and tracing patterns in it to form the tattoos, but for someone like Stiles who couldn't stand to hold still it was a tedious process, between the tattoos and the paint it was barely visible but Derek could still see his bitemark radiating against Stiles' skin and that made his heart swell a little more, subconsciously reaching back and tracing over the Oroborous tattoo on his back, a tattoo infused with magic... something usually only witches and Fae Folk had (and for good reason) to help them channel their magic, shapeshifters did carry a type of magic in their blood but it was a distorted sort, something they could only draw on for the purpose of shapeshifting rather than using it in the multiple ways that any magic practitioner like a witch could, but it didn't matter, the tattoo held special meaning, and for it to be sealed in with Pixie Dust made the meaning even stronger, Stiles had asked the faeries to give he and Derek matching symbols of eternity, and much to Derek's surprise, they obliged, he knew reasonably however that this would come with a price, with the moon high in the sky and the preparations made it was time for Stiles to complete the ritual of Ascension, with shakey hands he slipped the veil of jewels from his face, leaving nothing but a diadem with a moonstone to dangle in front of his Ajna chakra in place, "Alright," he croaked, trying but failing to sound like he was ready for this, "I'm ready- what do I do?" "You must connect with the four forces of nature, then your third eye will be completely open," one of the faeries explained, "Right... four forces of nature, let me guess, earth, air, water and fire-" "Will bring you your one true desire," Stiles wrinkled his nose, "Well isn't that a .. charming... rhyme," he muttered, shrugging as if waiting for more instructions, "The first step is quite simple, merely step into the earth and allow it to consume you, paint your third eye with the ground," the faery replied, pointing towards a pond of mud just past the gazebo, "Brilliant..." Stiles sighed, walking towards it and stepping in, shivering at the feeling and cringing slightly as he saw the mud sully the otherwise beautifull gems on his ankles, but he didn't have time to mourn the shininess, he stepped in completely and sank down into the earth, closing his eyes tightly and collecting some of the mud on his fingers, drawing a circle in the center of his forehead- right over his Ajna chakra, "Good, the first step is easy right?" the faery smiled, Stiles nodded slowly, "Yeah, dirty, freezing, but easy enough... now what?" "Rise from the earth, your next challenge is air,"

~+~

It was not in his nature to bypass anyone in distress, of that, Mason was certain, what he was rather UNCERTAIN about was how much he was willing to risk his safety as well as the safety of everyone at the foxhole should he happen to be discovered, so for a moment he stayed perched in his tree, watching the woman below as she tried to coax her horse into continuing on, but the large creature just brushed her off and insisted on taking a rest, deciding to swallow his resolve, Mason allowed himself to shapeshift and jump down, startling her breifly, "Is there anything I can assist you with m'lady?" he offered, "O-Oh ... no, thank you, I just have to wait on stubborn old Buttercup here," she said with a small chuckle, "Well perhaps atleast I can find you a shortcut, where are you headed?" "Ah... there's a little sleepy town several miles away, it's called Sleepy Hollow, have you heard of it?" Mason shook his head, "I'm afraid I haven't, do you live there?" "Oh, I do, I'm one of the mayors of the town, my name is Paige, how do you do?"

~+~

"All I have to do is breathe in this smoke?" Stiles asked a bit skeptically, "Yes but don't underestimate it, it's quite a potent mixture and can be hard on the lungs," the faery warned, Stiles struggled not to roll his eyes (He ultimately failed) and leaned down towards the bowl that the smoke was fuming from, inhaling deeply and indeed leaning back and coughing for a moment, eyes watering and shaking his head desperately, "Um...?" he coughed, "Twice more," the faery instructed, and so Stiles inhaled a second time and came away with the same reaction, and- deciding to just bite the bullet instead of taking an immediate break- leaned back down and inhaled a third time, coughing terribly and groaning as he felt a surge up his spine, "What IS that stuff?" "An herbal mixture," the faery replied vaguely, Stiles wanted so badly to question it further, but at this point he was far more concerned with actually getting out of here, so he ignored it.. for now anyway, "I assume water is next?" he guessed, "You assume correctly, go to that pool there and submerge yourself, pick someone to help you," "Help me? Why?" he asked with a frown, "You need to stay submerged for a certain amount of time but if you go alone you may very well rise too early with the need to breathe," she explained, "How long is it?" he asked, "One minute," Stiles took a deep breath and turned to Derek, who didn't even bother trying to protest but merely stood up, following him to the pool of water, "Sort of ironic isn't it? I get clean and then I get covered in mud and now I'm going to get clean again," Stiles mused, "... I'm not sure how much that's 'ironic' so much as 'the circle of hygiene' Stiles..." Derek said slowly, "Who the hell knows? I'm getting tired and my head is pounding, that smoke is no freind to sinuses," Stiles sighed, "Reasonably so," Derek replied, rolling his pant legs up and stepping into the pool before helping Stiles in, "You're welcome to stay here the night if you'd like," Anna offered, "No... thank you but we really have to get home," he replied, leaning his back against Derek's hand, they exchanged glances before Stiles took another breath and nodded, lowering himself down into the water, it was almost disturbing how still and at peace he was in the water at first, but that only lasted a few seconds before the struggle for air started to become much more prevalent and the witch began to kick and fight, trying to come back up for air, Derek's heart pounded and he closed his eyes, unable to watch as he kept Stiles forced beneath the water, it was the longest minute of his life, he had never known a single minute was actually so long, but finally, when the faery next to him tapped his shoulder, he released him and Stiles sprang up, gasping desperately for air and wrapping his arms around Derek, panting loudly and placing his head against his chest, "Stiles? Are yo-" "I'm almost....... done....." he breathed, "Stiles-" he just shook his head, he didn't want a break, not even a small one, he just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, "Bring on the fire," he croaked, Derek's heart sank into his stomach and he prayed that this wouldn't be the same sort of trial that Stiles had just faced, he prayed that fire was like air and fundamentally different from earth and water in the way that you can pledge to them... "It isn't necessary to tie me up here is it?" Stiles asked as he stared at the stake in front of him, "No, not at all, you see this is a bit different from your last trial, stand in the center and only the ring around the stake will be set ablaze, once it is, it's your job to get out, and once you've done that, you have Ascended," Anna explained, Stiles swallowed, nodding slowly and stepping back, leaning against the stake and wrapping his arms around the back of it just in case, something in Derek's stomach felt sick at the sight, in their realm witches burned at the stake day after day and never rose from the ashes- or crossed from the flames or did anything but die, seeing Stiles in this position with the knowledge of his easily he could end up in it back home... it was unnerving in the worst way.... Stiles nodded and one of the faeries crossed forward, passing Derek and setting her torch against the line of herbs in front of the stake, before Derek could so much as blink the fire caught around the circle of herbs and burst into an engulfing flame, Derek shook, fire was a symbol of death, destruction, chaos and greif, his family had burned to death and he was terrified of someday watching Stiles burn too, every hair on his body was standing on-end now and he just didn't know how to handle that, he knew he couldn't do anything but at the same time... the flames started to get bigger, taller- rising up higher as they started to spread, and with them Derek's anxiety, he resisted the urge to call out for Stiles, being that they had long since blazed high enough to prevent Derek from seeing him, but he resisted... and he resisted.... and he resisted... but the larger the flames got, the harder he found it to stop himself, and finally, he broke, "Stiles?" he called out, a tremor in his voice, and like a gust of wind the fire was blown to the sides, leaving an empty and untouched looking path in their wake, and walking along that path... was Stiles, "You rang?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a picture of how I see Stiles' veil as looking but at this point I figure it's easier to just link to the video, this actually inspired the entire second Wonderland arc too but I couldn't get over that jewled veil! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF6kBNLTvaU


	27. Go The Distance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there was a witch and a werewolf who got lost on their way back home...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly this actually has nothing to do with Hercules despite the chapter title (Aww D: ) but it was mildly clever so I conceded anyway, if anyone is interested though.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgnHF2CwrPs

"Are you alright?" Derek asked quietly as he stared over at the witch, Stiles nodded, a little numbly, and continued to walk, "Yeah, just... just exhausted..." he muttered back, they had said goodbye to Avalon- or more specifically the faeries there- a little wile back after Stiles made it clear that he wasn't going to be joining them and they were now taking a supposed shortcut back to their realm so they wouldn't have to worry about finding all of the doors and such, although so far it wasn't exactly short for a shortcut... "Here, just.. please, Stiles, just rest," Derek encouraged, "We can't... I have to keep going, we have to-" "Just... let me help," Derek offered quietly, neeling down with his back to Stiles, it took the witch longer than it normally would have before he caught on and slung his arms loosely around Derek's neck, relying on the werewolf to keep a tight hold on him as he wrapped his arms around his legs and uprighted them, starting to walk again, "Der.... you're the best," he mumbled tiredly, barely even coherent, Derek sighed softly, "That's my line..."

~+~

"You know Allison, hiding is no use, I can sense you now," Kate hissed as she slithered around the corner, half-snake... Allison should have known.... she maintained as much calm as she could though, trying to think of a plan, close-range weapons wouldn't do much good between Kate's sword and her abilities to lunge forward at any given moment, she had been dependent on dealing with a human Kate, she didn't even have anything on her for a supernatural threat... she wasn't going to survive this if she didn't fall back, and that was one of the things taught earliest to hunters in training: Always know when to fallback... "I can see you Allison, up in the trees," she hummed, slithering closer, Allison made a quick leap to the next tree and peered out to see where she was, 'I'm already close to where Scott is...' she thought with a curse of frustration, and that's when it hit her... she was already close to where Scott was.... if her wish really did work and luck was on her side she just may be able to work this out...

~+~

"Derek?" Stiles groaned, stirring slightly, "Hey, you're alright," Derek assured him instantly, the witch sat up slightly against him and rubbed at his head, one arm still slung over his shoulders and chest, "Der.... where in the hell are we?" he asked, Derek hung his head, face turning pink, "I um... took a wrong turn," he muttered, clearing his throat, "A ... wrong turn...?" Stiles asked slowly, "Um..." "You took a wrong turn ... into another dimension?" He asked with a slight laugh, smiling cheerfully, "Yeah... pretty much... I got disoriented," he muttered, pausing when he felt Stiles nuzzle against the back of his neck, "Stiles? You alright?" "Uh-huh, I'm just fine, why do you ask?" "Well you seem awfully... cheery... considering we're lost," he explained simply, "Do I?" Stiles hummed, leaning against his shoulder and snapping his fingers, a second later some sort of ethereal map made of blue electric sparks popped up, one that Stiles seemed to be able to read just fine even if it made no sense to Derek, "Der...!" he gasped, suddenly scrambling to get down, "W-What?" "Do you know where we are!?" he cried, "No... I'm pretty sure that's why I said _we're lost_ ," he said slowly, "Derek we're in Halloween Town!" Stiles cried, "What's that?" the werewolf frowned, "Only the best place EVER! Witches and werewolves like us? We just blend right in here! Every day is All Hallow's Eve," Stiles said with a dreamy sigh, "I mean no wonder I woke up in a good mood, I must have sensed the festivities!" he cried, running to the nearest apple stand and picking one up, "I bet we could get this candied nearly anywhere," he mused, "Put it down," Derek frowned, taking the apple and setting it back in the bin, "Stiles, we have to get home, weren't you the one who was telling me that earlier?" he asked calmly, well as calm as he could be considering how exhausted he was starting to feel... "But Derek look around! Ghosts and ghouls and goblins running around freely! The dead rising from their coffins without consequence! Nearly everybody bays at the moon! Derek we BELONG here," "Stiles... I am too tired to have this conversation, we are not World Jumpers, we belong in our own realm, wich, by the way, is probbably going to be DESTROYED in the very near future," there was a pause of silence and that alone told Derek that nothing good was happening, "Stiles?" he hissed, looking around and rolling his eyes when he saw Stiles had wandered towards him with an armfull of trinkets, "Look at this stuff Derek! I don't even know what half of it is but it looks so neat! I want to live here...." he said with a dreamy sigh, "We're in the middle of a war right now, maybe later," Derek groaned back, "No no no no no DEREK you don't understand! I want to live here! These are my PEOPLE!" "Yeah well your people scare the hell out of me now get with the program," he grunted, Stiles snorted, "Fine... we should be able to get back to our own realm by seeking out the uh... ruler... of this place so to speak... he should have a gateway for us," "Great, who are we looking for?" "Someone named Brett Talbot.... AKA The Pumpkin King," Derek flinched slightly, "That shouldn't sound NEARLY as intimidating as it does..."

~+~

"Thank you for helping me get home," Paige said with a smile as she dismounted from her horse, Mason shapeshifted out of his raven form again, stretching his arms and rubbing the back of his neck, "Oh it's really no problem, don't worry about it," he grinned back, "Seriously? Buttercup has never run so fast, even in her younger days, what did you do?" she chuckled, "It's just a raven thing, we're good with animals," he shrugged, gently rubbing the horse's muzzle, "Even still, I would really like to repay you for this, you were a great help," Mason blinked, this was his chance to possibly get help for their cause, Paige seemed like she was perfectly ok with the supernatural and looking around Sleepy Hollow he could already tell it was a fairly big place, maybe, just maybe, she'd be able to spare some soldiers or nights for them... "I can't believe I forgot to ask ... where are you from?" she asked suddenly, "O-Oh, um... the kingdom I found you in, actually, well... I more or less live on the outskirts but the king still rules that way so-" "Wolf Kingdom? Really?" she asked in surprise, "Yeah... I... I haven't heard it called that in years but .. yeah, how'd you-" "I lived there once," she said quietly, staring at Mason for a long moment, "Mason.... this may sound like a VERY strange question.... but you wouldn't happen to know anyone by the name of Derek Hale would you?" Mason stared at her in surprise, "How do you know Derek?" she grinned brightly, "Come with me, if you could just do me one more favor... I'll really be in your debt,"

~+~

Derek gasped and startled awake, sitting straight up and blinking, heart pounding as he looked around, "Where... where are we? What happened?" he asked quietly, "Brett let us stay in a room here at his castley palacey thing, he's actually a pretty nice guy, you feelin' better Big Bad Wolf?" Stiles replied from beside him, Derek frowned deeply, glancing at him and slowly getting up from the bed, "I'm fine, why are we here?" "Because you passed out on me in the middle of our journey? Derek... you really have to tell me when you get tired like that, you just toppled over and wouldn't wake up, you scared the hell out of me man, you better be glad there was a nice nurse ghost around who assured me you were ok," he replied, sticking a pumpkin shaped lollipop in his mouth- judging by the slightly disfigured edges Derek figured he'd been sucking on that thing for a wile already... "How long have we been here?" he asked, making his way to the windows, "No idea, it's sort of perpetual night this side of the town, time moves really strangely here so it might be a couple of hours, it might be closer to half a day, I have no idea- lolli?" he hummed, offering a lollipop to Derek, "Um... no... thanks... why do you have-" "I love this place Derek, free candy everywhere, constantly, it's like paradise," he grinned lop-sidedly, the werewolf just sighed, rubbing his eyes, "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to just-" "Derek, don't apologize for falling asleep, we've been.... we haven't had a chance to inhale much less close our eyes since before the ceremony, and God... there's no telling how long you were walking to get us lost in here, you definately needed your sleep, but I mean it, even if we're on some life-saving mission, don't just ignore your body like that ok? It'll lead to way more harm than good, what if we had been in the middle of fighting when you passed out like that?" Stiles frowned, Derek sighed and hung his head, "Yes Sir," he snorted, Stiles clicked his tounge, "Mmm I could get used to the sound of that," he grinned teasingly, biting the lollipop, Derek rolled his eyes, "We need to get going Stiles, we've been gone for too long," "Yeah... I got a flower from Lydia wile you were asleep, apparently it had a hard time finding me outside of Wonderland, everything was ok as of... what? Maybe about a day ago? Yesterday morning? Something like that, God I've never missed CLOCKS so much I swear... or just even being in a place with regular night and day circulations.... does Wonderland even HAVE night?" "Wonderland definately has night, but the days are longer, a full day and night cycle in our world is roughly one day cycle in Wonderland and night is only about half that time," he replied, Stiles snorted, "Crazy place.... Brett said they have places in Halloween Town where it's daylight for a few hours but those are on the edges of the city mostly, outskirts you know? Most of this realm is always night, and since it's also always Halloween they don't really bother keeping track of time, but they do have enchanted clocks that countdown to All Hallow's Eve in other realms and they send like.. little Halloween elves to do stuff around then, to spread the cheer," he mused, Derek stared at him, utterly perplexed, "See? I have Wonderland and you have Halloween Town, they both sound screwed up to me," "Um NO, Halloween Town is AWESOME," Stiles protested, shoving a lollipop in Derek's face, the werewolf rolled his eyes and took it gingerly, unwrapping it, "If I suck on this can we get going?" Stiles grinned, opening his mouth, "DON'T!" Derek warned, "Aww you're no fun... such a sourwolf..." he mumbled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a wad of what looked like worms, "Sour-worm Sourwolf?" Derek took one just to shut him up and sighed as he dropped it in his mouth, the taste making him cringe slightly, he was never a fan of sour things... he was relieved that they had been given food in Avalon when they first arrived in their room but there had been nothing since then, and he had a feeling that putting nothing but candy in an empty stomach was a bad idea, but his choices were more or less null so he stuck the lollipop in his mouth anyway and offered his hand to Stiles, who took it reluctantly and got up from the chair he was in, "Brett gave me a map of how to get out of here," he mused, swishing the candy in his mouth as they headed for the door, "The Pumpkin King gave you a map, a room, and a pile of candy? That's..." "Not free, I may have promised him my services when this is all over, look at that Der, Ascended for less than a day and already it's working in my favor," he said as he opened the door, it may have been worded positively but Stiles sounded completely deflated by it, his tone was sour and disgruntled and Derek felt a twinge of sadness, he was right - he hadn't been Ascended for even a full day yet and already people were taking advantage of it, the reality of that sank into his gut, the reality that Stiles would probbably be having to use his gift- his magic, his very life essence- as a bargaining chip for God only knows how much of their lives, and that he would probbably never be left alone again, always hounded, always plagued, by people who wanted to use him... the reality sunk in and it hurt, it reminded him too much of all of the feelings he hated having from Kate, of being used and abandoned and people hating him but wearing a mask of pleasantries to get what they wanted from him, Stiles didn't deserve that, no one did but especially not Stiles, especially not Stiles who had done so much for so many and gotten so little in return, something seemed to snap in him, something that sent urges down his spine of wanting to protect the witch, of wanting to prevent that from happening, of wanting to prevent Stiles from ever feeling that way... he wasn't sure how, but he would do that, he had so little to offer in this world, if he could atleast ward away those selfish people who only wanted Stiles for his gift... Derek would take the job and run with it, "-about the Boogeyman getting out and running amuck and wanting my Ascension to- .. Derek?" Stiles paused, stopped mid-sentence (Well, paragraph, Derek had tuned him out well over a minute ago and yet he seemed to still be talking without even noticing) and glanced up at the werewolf, who had wrapped an arm around his shoulders and drawn him close to his side, "You ok there Big Guy?" he asked, Derek nodded, drawing the lollipop from his mouth, "Yeah... yeah, everything is fine Stiles... I promise,"

~+~

"That was pretty brilliant, I have to say," Lydia hummed as she dragged the silver comb through her hair, "You really think so? You don't think it was a terrible decision?" Allison asked with a frown, "Allison," Lydia said softly, snapping her fingers as the comb vanished into thin air and grabbing her hands, smiling softly, "I think you acted brilliantly, you got away when you knew you couldn't win and you used your only wish to protect Scott- in a very smart way at that- you worked with what you had and you did well," she promised, giving her a gentle smile, "I AM a little sad that you used your only other wish on something selfless though, I was hoping you'd use it to get yourself a castle or something," She teased, "No thanks, I've had enough of castles," Allison chuckled, glancing over her shoulder at Scott, "You sure about that?" Lydia asked softly, leaning back and inhaling, "I think you'll be pretty ok with staying there in the future," she hummed, Allison blushed slightly, "Lyd-" "Come on, you like him don't you?" she smirked, Allison hung her head, "That doesn't stop me from liking you," she said quietly, Lydia just smiled gently, wrapping her arms around her and giving her a tight hug, "Hopefully, you'll only have to love twice for one to stick," she said softly, "And you?" Allison asked softly, Lydia just shrugged, "I'm not rushing into anything, but I'm not ignoring a third time either, let's just say that Neverland... opened some interesting doors, besides, what's love got to do with it anyway? It doesn't matter to me weather we're _in_ love or not, we love eachother, and I swear on my very soul, I am not letting anyone or anything split us apart again," Allison smiled brightly and squeezed her hand back, "Then I guess we better get ready to stop my aunt, she'll be telling my parents about all this any time now... we need to be ready to strike tonight," Lydia nodded, standing and helping Allison to her feet, "Then we'll strike tonight,"

~+~

"I never thought I'd be so happy to be back in a _hole_ ," Stiles groaned as he dropped down into the foxhole, "You're telling me, I never thought I'd be so glad for the smell of foxes," Derek sighed, dropping in right after him, "You're telling me," Stiles snorted, "How would you know?" before Stiles had a chance to answer Derek was nocked onto his back by Laura, who had run up and jumped on him, "Ugh! Baby brother! You had us worried sick!" she huffed, "I-I'm sorry, sorry, it's-" "You can tell me later, we have far more important matters at hand, come on," she insisted, dragging Derek to his feet again and leading he and Stiles towards the back where everyone was still gathered, "Mason just came in a bit ago, he has some very important information for us," she explained, "Great, just what we need, more information," Stiles grumbled, "Is that a bad thing?" Laura asked in confusion as she went to sit down next to Cora and Parrish, "No, no we're fine," he shrugged, a few glances were exchanged but ultimately no one commented on it, "I ran into someone today who said she was from Sleepy Hollow," Mason began, "Sleepy Hollow? That's a good two towns away or so, how did you meet someone from there?" Derek asked in surprise, "She was coming this way to deliver something to a freind and her horse got tired out, I helped the horse get a little more energy and followed her back to Sleepy Hollow, she knows a shortcut over a bridge so it wasn't that far away, she was so greatfull that I helped her get home that she offered me something- a reward of sorts, asked how I could repay her, so I thought ... Sleepy Hollow seems like a pretty big place, maybe they could lend us a few soldiers to help out," "And did they?" Derek asked, "Sort of... before I could ask she suddenly asked me if I knew you, I told her you were gone at the moment and she promised to help us however we needed if she could talk to you the moment you were back," "And now happens to be when we're back," Derek sighed, Mason gave him an apologetic frown, "She offered so much... I wasn't sure how to say no," he said quietly, "No it's ... it's fine, I'll go," "WE'LL go," Stiles corrected firmly, he and Derek stared at eachother for a moment before Derek sighed and hung his head, "Alright.... we'll go then, let's ready a carriage and we'll head off to Sleepy Hollow,"

~+~

"Are you doing alright honey?" Melissa asked quietly as she sat down next to Scott, the prince looked up and gave her a sad smile, "I'm fine, just thinking about Stiles.. I mean.. how am I going to tell him he's my brother?" he asked quietly, "Scott... you know, you don't have to-" "I do, Stiles deserves to know, he's as much royalty as I am, as much your son as I am, he's my BROTHER... he deserves to know his family as much as I do," she smiled a little more, wrapping an arm around his shoulders, "I was just going to say, you don't have to be the one to tell him, that isn't your responsibility, it's mine... if you want him to know, then I should be the one to tell him," he shook his head, smiling a little brighter, "That's ok Mom, I mean... no offense, it's just... Stiles and I are already really close," he explained, "Oh?" she asked with slight surprise, "Yeah, it's funny, you know, as soon as we met we clicked right off the bat and ever since we've been like-" "Brothers?" he grinned a little more, "Yeah," "Well that's good, that's the twin connection working in your favor," she hummed, "Yeah," he nodded in agreement, there was a moment of silence as they both stared across the feild, watching Allison and Lydia spar with blades that Lydia had turned from sticks, "Scott... I need you to be prepared for something, if we succeed with this... your father... he-" "I know, he won't be king anymore," Melissa stayed quiet, she needed to be completely honest, needed him to be aware that this could lead to his father's death.. but at the same time she couldn't manage to release the words, "I know it'll be up to me," he said quietly, "Are you ready for that?" "No... but I don't think anyone ever really is," she nodded slowly, a small smile escaping, "That's.... awfully wise," she said, Scott just shrugged quietly, taking a breath and looking up at the sky, "It's intimidating, but I'd rather be intimidated and wise than comfortable and ignorant," he sighed, standing up slowly and rubbing his upper arm anxiously, "I should go and spar with them, I'm out of practice and I can't be caught off guard... there's no telling how much I'll have to use the sword in the coming future,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where I officially decided this fic was just one of my self-indulgant fics and I decided to stop trying to control myself anymore
> 
> Interestingly I've actually seen more than one version of Halloweentown from different sources but I picture it mostly as the one from The Nightmare Before Christmas
> 
> It amuses me endlessly that I made that "so happy to be back in a hole" comment and now a month later the fandom is going nutty over Liam and his hole, ah irony...


	28. Once Upon A Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time there was a sleepy little town plagued by the resurrected dead, and it was up to their leader to put them in line, even though she was once dead herself...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know when I thought adding Sleepy Hollow to this thing was a good idea but it actually didn't go terribly so.... yay?

"You don't know anyone who could want anything with you Derek? Anything... I mean.. positive?" Stiles asked hopefully as he tightened the strap around the sword he was carrying, "No, I don't," Derek sighed back, glancing at the blade Kira was handing him, "Don't stare at it that way, you have no idea what's going on in Sleepy Hollow, you may do better in your human form than your wolf form, especially with the full moon being tonight," she explained, Derek exhaled deeply and strapped the dagger to his thigh, "The girl said her name was Paige, I don't know if that helps bu-" "Paige?" Derek echoed, blood running cold, "Yeah, you know her?" Mason asked curiously, Stiles glanced over his shoulder, lips pressed into a tight line as he strapped on some leather gloves, a few cut-outs along the nuckles but otherwise pretty thick and secure, "Take extra weapons Boo," he snorted, grabbing the miniature bottle of Mountain Ash Danny was handing to him and slipping the chain it was on around his neck, "Well we're definately going now, don't even argue with us Derek," Laura said sternly, swiping two blades for herself and Cora from Malia, who was sifting around in the slulk's weaponry with fascination, "I don't understand, who's Paige?" Erica asked curiously, "None of your concern," Derek muttered back, narrowing his eyes as Stiles handed him a sword for himself, "Just take it Derek," he said with a tired frown, Derek rolled his eyes, reluctantly slipping the strap over his shoulder and tightening it, "These blades are interesting Kira, they're different from the ones I've seen from the palace," Laura commented as she grabbed a few throwing blades and stuffed them in her pocket, "That's because they're made by kitsune, they have an undercurrent of magic in them, those symbols you see in the centers and near the hilts of our blades are there because of that, they're designed for better aim and deeper damage," she explained, handing Derek a pistol, he flinched back, shaking his head vigorously and holding his hands up gently, hoping to stave off the dissappointed pout- it didn't work, "Well holy crap remind me to never make you angry," Malia snorted, grabbing a meteor hammer and admiring it, "Do you know how to use that?" Kira asked, "Um... no..." "Best if you put it down," she smiled gently, blinking as Stiles reached over and took the pistol from her, grabbing a holster from the shelf in front of him, "Don't take it personally Kira, werewolves are naturally pretty ... cautious... of guns, thanks to that 'silver bullet' craze from a few decades back, most non-hunters still think that's the way to go and even now hunters are pretty prone to use Wolfsbane laced bullets," he explained, humming as he grabbed a chain from the shelf and wrapped it into a small ball, stuffing it down his pantleg and placing another dagger in his boot, handing a pair of black leather gloves like his own to Derek, "You'll need those if you're weilding a blade," he explained effortlessly, Cora hissed, "We aren't going to war YET," she huffed, "You don't know that," Stiles muttered back, cracking his neck and his nuckles and turning around, "You're terrifying," Malia said dryly, Stiles just rolled his eyes, "Ready Hales?" the siblings nodded and he adjusted the blade across his back again, "Then let's go to Sleepy Hollow,"

"Ah Parrish, what are you doing out here?" Stiles asked in confusion as he, the Hales, and Danny walked into the forest, "Oh, I'm going to help guard the prince, I have Miss Kira's permission and everything," he smiled, "Ah, probbably a good idea, they're hanging at my old house right?" "That's right, Lydia sent a butterfly from this morning saying that she needed an extra hand so I volunteered," Stiles' eyebrows pinched slightly and he frowned, glancing over his shoulder as the werewolves watched Danny with intensity, the once-dark witch seemed to be a cross between stupidly proud and frustratingly exasperated as they watched each and every flick of his wrist to turn nearby flora into a carriage, "Nobody's hurt are they?" "Huh? Oh no no, not that she said atleast, but ... she did say that we need to attack the king tonight," he explained, Stiles finally looked away from the others, focusing his attention completely on Parrish, "Tonight? Do you know why?" "No, I don't," he hummed quietly, "Well just more motivation to get this over with and get back here then I guess," he muttered, jumping and turning around when he heard a slight boom, sure enough a carriage was sitting in the middle of the woods, looking much more like vegitation than an actual carriage if the vines and general greenness were any proof, "My light magic is rusty," Danny shrugged, "I'd have a MUCH easier time just conjuring a real carriage but you don't seem like you'd approve of that," he tsked, "Yeah, no, we're not stealing carriages if we can help it," Stiles huffed back, slightly worried about how the horses were going to turn out if Danny had as rough of a time with them as he did with the carriage, but he turned back to Parrish anyway and tried to ignore the gossip in the background as one of the wolves was undoubtedly sent to catch some squirrels, "Parrish, do you think you could remember to have Lydia send me a butterfly with the details of the attack plan?" "Oh! Absolutely," he nodded back, "Great, I'd really appreciate that thanks," he smiled slightly, cringing when he heard the unmistakable squeal of a squirrel being turned into a horse, he willed himself to glance over and breathed a sigh of releif when he saw that the horse actually looked pretty normal, "Hey... Stiles? Can I ask.. how come you need all those weapons? Shouldn't your magic be enough?" Parrish asked, "Not always, it depends on who and what I'm dealing with, I might have someone tampering with my magic or I might have someone who's too close up for me to use magic, or I might have to use it in conjuncture with magic, you know, a spell on one side and a blade with the other," the dragon nodded slowly, "How'd you learn all of this?" "I taught myself, I knew the hunters would come for me and I didn't want to be vulnerable, they'd be expecting a witch- a witch with a sword? Not so much," "Smart," Parrish grinned, "Thanks," Stiles grinned, glancing over again as the newly turned coachman let out a terrible duck screech, "So ... do you mind if I ask what the deal is with Derek and this girl in Sleepy Hollow?" Stiles took a deep breath, "Let's just say ... there's some bad blood there..."

~+~

"So what's it like being Ascended?" Laura asked eagerly, Stiles glanced up at her, rubbing the back of his neck, "Um, it's ok? It isn't as bad as I thought it'd be but it isn't great either," he shrugged back, "Why did you think it would be bad?" Cora frowned, "Well... the fact that my mind would be invaded by spirits all the time didn't really sound like a fun time to me you know?" he paused, shifting slightly in his seat, "It isn't exactly like that but it's still pretty frustrating, on the one hand my mind is calmer than usual, I can grasp a train of thought a little more clearly and my magic is actually behaving, it doesn't feel like this jumbled up mess of wires anymore, it's just calm.... but on the other hand my mind is still racing all the time because I'm trying to stave off visions and voices and all this other stuff that wants to channel through and I'm just trying to concentrate on what I'm doing and it's interrupting.. it's like I traded one problem for another but this one is a little louder and harder to deal with," he explained, leaning back and glancing out the window, Derek slipped his fingers over Stiles' wordlessly, closing his eyes, "Being Ascended doesn't sound like all the fun the mermaid cracked it up to be," Cora observed, "Fun? No, but it IS still revered, if I CARED about being revered I'd probbably be over the moon right now," he mused, "So how were you able to do the thing without being a virgin anymore?" she asked bluntly, "Cora!" Laura hissed, "What?" "A little more TACT.... but yes Stiles, how?" "Do we really have to talk about this?" Derek frowned, "Oh come on Derek, you knew what would happen if you came back smelling like Eau De Ascended Witch here, you're- very surprisingly- the only of the last remaining Hales to have a current relationship," "I am not discussing this with my sisters- I am not discussing this with anyone," "Wich is why we asked Stiles," Cora added helpfully, "It's ... complicated," Stiles grumbled, "Oh now that's a real cop out," "Could we just-" "Out of curiosity was it in Wonderland? It was in Wonderland wasn't it? Always knew that place meant alot to you Derek," Laura teased, "Oh my GOD no it was not in Wonderland- crazy, homicidal Wonderland? No," "Well it wasn't in Avalon," Laura snorted, Stiles twitched uncomfortably, turning back to the window, "Oh my GOD it was!" "Derek how much would you mind if I put a gag-spell on your sisters?" " _Mind_? I'd be eternally in your debt," Cora rolled her eyes, leaning back and crossing her legs, "You two are just rude,"

~+~

"Parrish, good to see you," Lydia smiled as the dragon landed beside her on the ground, folding his wings and starting to shapeshift back into human form, "I suppose you couldn't have found a more subtle to get here?" she teased, "I didn't really want to travel in one of Danny's hideous carriages," he teased back, rubbing the back of his neck, it hadn't been easy flying high enough that no one would really notice him but atleast the distance was short enough that he could manage, "I suppose that's a good enough reason," she hummed, "Oh! Before I forget, Stiles wants you to send a butterfly with the details of our attack plan," he added, following her as she walked back into the house, "Stiles and Derek are back?" "Yeah, they had to leave though, some mess in Sleepy Hollow ... it's a long story but we have a bigger army now," "We do?" she asked suspiciously, he nodded slowly, sitting at the table across from Scott and Allison as the mermaid went to fetch the tea kettle resting on the counter, "Yeah, Sleepy Hollow is lending us some soldiers for one thing, and Stiles said that the White Queen in Wonderland is sending us an army or two, although with the impromptu attack I don't know how well that will go..." he mused, "Well I would send a flower but Stiles never sent back the one we had been communicating with, so I'm not sure how else to get in touch with another dimension," she mused quietly, "Don't worry about it, I'm sure there was a precaution set in place already,"

~+~

"I feel like I'm forgetting something very important..." Stiles muttered, rubbing his eyes, "We're probbably both forgetting alot of things," Derek reasoned, "Yeah but... this one feels... ah.... eh.... nevermind," Stiles sighed, "Sooo.. you two seem close, obviously you have true love and all of that going for you... do I hear wedding bells in the future?" Laura grinned, "Ohhh yeah... we're engaged... that's probbably one of the things I forgot to mention," Stiles muttered, "It IS the least stressfull of everything that's happened in the last few days," Derek mumbled with a nod, ignoring the absolutely shocked looks on his sisters' faces, "You two are ENGAGED?" Cora asked slowly, "And you didn't think that was the MOST important thing that happened on your journey?" Laura huffed, Stiles squinted, "I freaking _Ascended_ and we were almost killed like a million times and we're about to go to war.... ohh... yeah... and did I mention that thing about Scott maybe becoming a werewolf? That's really important, we need to stop that from happening, but I-" "But you're going to get MARRIED!" Laura interrupted, "Derek, I don't see a ring," Cora said with a bland frown, ".... You're right, I'm sorry, I should have carved one out of stone in the middle of running for my life from Wonderland's natural and homicidal fauna," "Exactly," Cora added, he sighed, rolling his eyes, "Stiles, we're both very happy that you've taken up the task of our brother," "Task?" Stiles asked in confusion, "Well he's a bit of a fixer-upper," Laura shrugged, "He's got a couple of bugs," Cora added, "Like the grumpy way he talks, or that he's rather isolated-" "Socially impaired more like," Cora jumped in, "That too, but you'll never find anyone more unnaturally sensitive and sweet-" "And cuddly," "And huggy, Derek is unusually huggy for someone so off-putting," "Can we stop talking about this?" Derek growled, now completely red in the face, "I'm just as much of a fixer-upper as Derek is, if we're comparing notes," Stiles shrugged, scooting closer, "I have my fair share of flaws, I don't really care about fixing them, if Derek wants to growl at everything that walks he can do that, as long as I'm the exception to the rule, I may or may not like being his favorite person," "Who says you're my favorite?" Derek hummed as he glanced down at him, "Well, no offense dearie, but who else is there? I think right about now you'd prefer me over these two," he grinned, ".... Sadly you're right," Derek sighed, "We're JUST trying to help you little brother," Laura shrugged, glancing out the window as the carriage stopped, "I guess this is it," Cora said quietly, a moment later the doors opened and the four stepped out and onto the streets of Sleepy Hollow, "So what does this .. Paige.. look like?" Stiles asked, looking around cautiously at the people who were milling about the town, "Actually... that's her over there," Derek frowned, nodding to a girl several yards away and walking away quickly and not so quietly, "D-Derek?" Stiles stuttered, rushing after him, the werewolf paused suddenly a few feet in front of the girl, visibly pale and looking quite stunned, "Derek?" she asked quietly, smiling brightly, "You've changed alot, I guess aging does that to you huh?" he was silent for a moment before finally finding his voice again, "It really is you... Paige..."

~+~

"You probbably shouldn't be out here with the hunters surveying so closely, especially doing that," Boyd pointed out as he walked over to the tree stump Erica was sitting on, trying to keep out of range of the snow that was perpetually falling on her, "I know, but I can't help it, I'm still not fully in control of my powers yet," she said with a deep frown, "And you're worried you won't be able to control them tonight," he guessed, the Ice Nymph nodded slowly, closing her eyes as the snow continued to fall, "How did you control your powers?" she asked quietly, "I just had to learn to let it go," he shrugged back, "I was frustrated with it at first, but I had to learn to let go of the frustration, the fear, the worry, anything that could weigh me down, I had to let it go, and the shift started coming more naturally to me," he explained, "Just like that huh?" Erica sighed softly, "It sounds so easy," "Trust me, it isn't," Boyd replied quietly, they sat in silence for a few moments, the snow still pouring down on top of Erica's head as ice started spreading over the tree stump and down the sides to the ground, "How do you let go?" she asked quietly, "You have to start with the thing that made you this way, start with what cursed you," "You mean Danny?" she sighed, "I'm not real-" "No, I mean the one you loved, the girl who you wanted to be numb for," he replied, she glanced down at him, a pained smile playing on her lips, "I don't think I can, have you been able to let go of Alisha?" he shook his head, "No... I just keep her locked away in my head... tighter than anything else," Erica sighed, lowering her head and jumping slightly when she felt Boyd's hand wrap around her own, giving it a tight squeeze, "Don't- you'll freeze," she warned, the bear looked up at her, smirking slightly, "That's alright, the cold never bothered me anyway,"

~+~

"I don't understand.... how are you still-" "Alive?" Paige guessed, Derek looked away but gave a slow nod anyway, "It's actually thanks to my mother, and my wife," she hummed, pushing a cup of tea towards him, "You're married now?" he asked quietly, looking up at her and flinching as he looked away again, "I'm married... and have kids, actually, if the look on your freind's face here says anything I'd say you aren't too many steps behind me either," she hummed, Stiles glanced up, not at all looking alarmed as he wrapped his hand around Derek's under the table, "Yeah, we're engaged actually," he replied, "That's wonderfull, hopefully you'll be as happy as Alisha and I are," she mused, "Alisha?" Stiles asked, brows nitting slightly, "Huh... I could swear I've heard that name before..." he muttered, "It's not an uncommon name," Paige brushed off, sighing slightly, "Derek, look at me, I'm not angry, do I SOUND angry?" she asked quietly, he chanced looking up at her, squeezing Stiles' hand like a vice, "How can you not hate me? I'm responsible for your death- ... or.... whatever happened back then..." she shook her head, frowning a little more, "No such thing, we were just kids Derek, and I was as impulsive as you were, the only people responsible for killing me are the hunters that shot me full of arrows, not you, it was never your fault," "I'm the one who told you to come with me, I'm the one who thought it was a good idea to sneak into the inner city and-" "And I'm the one who followed you and wanted to stay five more minutes," she sighed, shaking her head, "Goddess... I don't remember you being _this_ self-deprecating..." she paused, glancing at Laura and Cora and then back at Derek, "I'm sorry for your losses..." Derek tensed and looked away again, "Hunters, right after ... you..." Laura said softly, Paige winced, taking a sip of her tea, "No wonder.... I'm sure you have alot of scars Derek, that weren't there the last time we met, I won't pick at them, I promise, but this one... this one should heal now, I'm fine, I'm happy, and I'm not angry or upset," "But you should be," Derek argued, glancing up again and slowly letting go of Stiles' hand so he could focus more on the conversation, "At you Derek Hale? Never," she smiled, nudging a bowl of sugar cubes towards him, anxiously, Derek reached out and took one, setting it into his tea and rolling his eyes as Stiles put three in his, "I am angry though, I'm furious, at the people who killed me," she said calmly, leaning back and moving the bowl of sugar towards Laura and Cora, "Yeah... that's the thing, how are you still kicking again?" Cora asked suspiciously, "Like I said, that's thanks to my mother and my wife, it's a little more complex than that though....."

_Once upon a time, when I was younger, I thought I was human, and I think you all probbably thought I was too, I learned eventually though that my mother- who had passed away years before of a cause that my father wouldn't explain to me- was a witch... and a prophet, at that, one day when I was a baby she foresaw my death in your arms Derek, so, taking the only precaution she could with fifteen years away, she placed a curse on me, so that when that day came, when an arrow would penetrate my body, I would fall into a death-like sleep, does it sound familiar? It should, Mother once studied under Morgana.... but that's nothing I can really tell you about, anyway, she placed this curse on me, and said that a kiss- any kiss- would wake me, Mother assumed that by how deeply we felt for eachother, how much you mourned me in her vision, that you would kiss me goodbye right away- thus why she made the stipulation a kiss, she wasn't counting on you being so guilt-ridden that you couldn't bare to touch me any more than you already were, and so I was alive when I was put in my tomb, luckily my family has a mossolium and I didn't have to be put in the ground... several years later Alisha arrived in Sleepy Hollow- this is where my family's crypt is kept you see- looking for her brother, who had run away from home a few months before then after being turned into a bear, what Alisha found was my tomb and when she went looking for something from a dead witch she sensed my life force, as faint and faded as it was, Alisha had been studying magic for some time at that point in the hopes of getting her brother back, and knew well of the sleeping curses, so she kissed me on a wim and lo and behold I woke up, ever since then there have been five things consuming our lives, obviously eachother and our children are two of them, but the other three ... that may surprise you, Alisha is still looking for her brother and came to a point recently where she'd almost found him, but he wasn't there, I on the other hand have a different mission, I kill hunters, Alisha helps when she can, the hunters like to call us the "Evil Queens", despite the fact that neither of us is royalty and "evil" is such a relative term...._

"So, there you have it," Paige said casually, "Wait a minute... a brother that turned into a bear? She wouldn't happen to be related to a guy named Boyd would she?" Stiles frowned, Paige's eyes lit up, mouth opening, "You know him?" she breathed, "Yeah, he's... yeah, it's a long story but he's with us, I can definately get them back in touch when this war is over," Paige nodded eagerly, "Please do," she said, glancing at Derek again, "I tried looking for you too for a wile you know, to apologize, to show you I was ok, but I couldn't find you," "Crazy huntress that murdered our family took our house with her- burned it to the ground," Cora shrugged, Paige looked away, sighing softly, "Give me her name, once this is over with I-" "No," Stiles interrupted, his eyes flickering with anger and hatred, "Kate Argent is mine, and the Hales.. if they want a peice," Paige smiled and leaned back, nodding slowly, "I can respect that," "Why did you start HUNTING hunters?" Derek asked in confusion, "You just... you always seemed like such a pacifist," "Things change, especially after you sorta die," she shrugged, "I don't go after all of them, I mean... I don't go after HUMANS, I hunt those who hunt us, simple as that, that's the Argent code or so I've heard, it sounded fitting," "More than you know," Stiles snorted, "Wait a second, didn't you say there were five things that you concentrated on these days? I only heard four," Laura observed, Paige nodded slowly, "Perceptive as always Laura, the fifth is actually why I insisted on seeing you immediately, you see when Alisha broke my curse my revival caused a sort of.... domino effect on the town of Sleepy Hollow and we have a bit of a problem with our dead STAYING dead, like a rat infestation, the most troublesome by far is this horseman who comes around every full moon trying to cut off people's heads," "Sounds familiar," Derek muttered, "I was hoping you could help us with that, admittedly I'm not sure how but I still hoped that maybe you knew of something," Stiles shrugged, leaning back in his chair, "I'm an Ascended, I can consult with some spirits so-" "You're Ascended?" Paige breathed, "I've never met an Ascended before, is it terrible?" "No, not bad, just... irritating, sort of, the visions, the voices, not having my head to myself..." "I can maybe help with that, I inherited my mother's gift of Prophecy, I can't make any promises but I can possibly teach you how to turn it off," Stiles smiled, "Alright, you've got yourself a deal then, help me turn it off and I'll help you figure out a way to dispose of your vermin," Paige grinned wickedly, "I like the sound of that, and Alisha?" "The moment this war is over, I swear it," "I'll lend you as many troops as I can then, I hope you understand but Alisha and I can't afford to join you, it's a full moon and-" "Don't worry, we get it," Laura assured her, "Thanks," she smiled slightly, looking up when she heard the sound of pitter-pattering feet coming across the corner, "Mommy!! Mommy!! Mama is looking for you!" Paige smiled brightly, standing and holding her arms out for the curly haired little boy that came running her way, "Everyone, this is my son Ichabod, Ichabod these are our new freinds, Derek, Stiles, Laura and Cora, say hi ok?" the boy looked up at them a bit shyly, smiling and waving sheepishly before directing his attention back to Paige, "Mama is looking for you, she said it's urgent," Paige just sighed, nodding slowly, "Ok, tell her I'll be up in a minute," "She says now, can I go play with Abigail in the courtyard?" he replied dismissively, Paige's lips twerked up and she nodded, ruffling his hair, "You seem to have quite a liking to little miss Abigail don't you?" "Yes! She's lots of fun! Bye Mommy! Bye Mommy's freinds!" he shouted over his shoulder as he ran out to the courtyard, "Looks like I have an 'emergency' to tend to, probbably child related... Derek, would you care to join me?" she asked, Derek nodded and stood immediately, waving away any attempt Stiles or his sisters may make at following, "We'll go watch the kids," Laura offered, nudging Cora and Stiles to follow her and giving a polite wave to Paige on their way out, "What do you think that was about?" Cora asked suspiciously, "I don't think it was about anything," Stiles said quietly, "I think it was just two people who used to be in love wanting to take a moment and .... just _be_.... and I think they both need to," he said, biting his lip slightly and glancing at the stairs as he walked into the courtyard, "I just hope that's all it is,"

"Lish? Everything ok?" Paige called as she rounded the corner, "Everything is fine, false alarm," the woman across the room smiled, "I thought I was going to have to call in the Magic Lullaby Mom but she's actually sleeping," she hummed back, only then looking up from the crib and noticing Derek, "Who's this?" "An old freind, I'll tell you later, in fact... there are several things I'll have to tell you, but for now why don't you just go down to the courtyard? Ichabod is playing with Abby Mills again," she mused as she crossed over to the crib, "I swear those two are going to grow up and get married and be in the same position we are," Alisha teased, "I wouldn't doubt it, if Ichabod's eyes got any more heart-shaped for that girl they'd be permanently transfixed like that," Paige laughed, Alisha laughed as well, saying something or other to Paige under her breath before walking towards the door, "It was nice to meet you Derek," she said politely, heading out of the room, "She's nice," Derek smiled softly, "Mm when she wants to be she is.. now come here, I want you to meet our latest addition," she said with a smile, hurriedly waving him over to the crib, Derek peered in, smiling and feeling his heart flutter when he saw the tiny child, who couldn't have been more than a month old at most, "Derek, this is my darling Katrina, and Katrina, this is Uncle Derek," the werewolf jerked his head up, frowning nervously at her, "Don't you give me that look Hale," she warned, not even glancing at him, "Fate has brought us together again, and with your bunch knowing Alisha's brother? You can expect we'll be seeing so much of eachother you'll get sick of me before long, hell Wolf Kingdom and Sleepy Hollow may just have to merge from all the travel," she teased, "I'd never get sick of you," Derek said quietly, staring back down at the baby and smiling again, "Honestly... you're such a teddy bear, how you've survived this long in a hunter-infested place like Wolf Kingdom is ENTIRELY past my understanding, Sleepy Hollow may be crawling with trouble but atleast we nipped our hunters in the bud quickly," she mused, finally pushing away from the crib and walking towards a chest across the room, "Is it difficult? Having blood on your hands like that?" he asked softly, "Difficult? No, unpleasant? Yes, but I know the consequences of staying silent and I can't do that, I can't raise my children- no matter if they take after myself or after my wife- knowing that there's danger out there that I could eliminate but that I simply _won't_ ," she explained, Derek hummed thoughtfully, he wasn't sure how exactly this worked with the children, considering Paige herself apparently didn't awaken as a witch until after she was a teenager, but he didn't want to ask either, some things just aren't worth the questioning, "If they're witches... will you tell them straight away?" he settled, "I'll raise them in their skins unlike what my mother did for me," "And Alisha is ok with this?" "Yes, it's a very long story but she actually has become a shapeshifter in the process of looking for her brother," "Really?" Derek asked in surprise, finally looking away from Katrina, "Mm, and supposedly it's possible they inherited that as well.... her favorite form is that of a crane, thus why we named ourselves 'Crane'," "You changed your last name," he mused softly, "Ofcourse, I always hated the name Turner, my mother thought she was so clever..." she mused, crossing the room again, "I can't believe it's really you after all this time, you look like a man now, where's the boy who used to chase me around the trees talking of Bandersnatches?" she asked with a teasing smile, "Locked up tight somewhere," Derek answered softly, "And I'm sure Stiles has the key to wherever that is hm?" Derek didn't answer but she could tell she was right- it was a gift one could say, "I don't have to be a Prophet to tell you that your future won't be so unlike mine, give it a few months, you'll be having one of your very own," she hummed as she walked back to the crib, "A few months?" Derek snorted, "Mm-hm, don't doubt me, I'm VERY keen on these things, and IF you or Stiles ever wanted to do what Alisha and I did rather than merely taken in an orphaned child- or thirteen or thirty knowing you werewolves- I would be more than happy to conduct the spell myself," she smiled again, cooing softly at her sleeping daughter, "Right now I'm too concerned about surviving till morning to think that over, but I'll drop the message by Stiles once we're sure we can breathe again," he replied, "Perfectly understandable, although that is what I called you up here about," he tilted his head in confusion, eyebrows raising, "My... reproduction method of choice? Seems a little odd even for you," he mused, finally starting to fall back into the ease he had always had with her, the fright of her was finally starting to fade and although the guilt remained present the familiarity was starting to overtake it, "Not the babies, the husband," she smiled back, turning finally and offering him a small box, Derek took it hesitantly, opening it and staring up at her in shock, "Paige... I ca-" "Just make sure you wear those into battle, ok?" "I can't accept these, I ca-" "They're family heirlooms Derek, just take them, please, I don't want them, I don't want anything of my life before... except for you, consider this our fresh start, consider it my 'I'm sorry I let you think I was dead for ten years' gift, consider it something, consider it nothing, consider it anything .... but just take them, give one to Stiles, let yourselves be happy, and let me know that I was even a tiny part of that happiness, Derek, you deserve that happiness, and I deserve to be able to restore some of it after taking some of it away," he swallowed, staring at the rings silently, "Derek, please.... take them,'' he crossed over, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly, _"Thank you,"_ , Paige took a deep breath, hugging him back and smiling, "You don't need to thank me, you standing here is more than thanks enough,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you didn't think I'd take my chances with Stiles and Derek gearing up to be set to Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" you are sorely mistaken https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcIy9NiNbmo and yes I know I've used that joke already but you don't know how long it's taken me to post this thing- I am tired
> 
> I'll tell you what else you were sorely mistaken about, if you didn't think I'd put more Frozen references in here, like shamelessly inserting another song, and my only regret is that Laura and Cora didn't ACTUALLY sing it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOGKltmWYTM
> 
> Also if you can't already tell, shameless IchAbbie shipper here saluting from the ships of Sleepy Hollow
> 
> There may have been one point in the planning stages of Paige's arrival where she and Alisha were ACTUAL evil queens casting curses and stuff and helping out Derek for old time's sake.. just thought I'd drop that in here if anyone wanted to pick it up themselves...


	29. For Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time there was a small army- full of misfits, full of mismatches- who decided to take on the king in war...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you were thinking that this chapter title is based on the song from Wicked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQJaZO2nfGg you are absolutely corrected, I've actually avoided listening to this version of the song since my introduction into the Gelphie fandom months ago because it HURTS just thinking about it, but I'm listening to it for the first time now and man no cover can compare so this is a good choice overall
> 
> I also apologize in advance for the horrible fight scenes, I know I suck at those but I'm trying atleast

"This is good, this is very good," Lydia said approvingly as she stared at the group of knights that had come from Sleepy Hollow, "Yeah? We gonna have enough horse power to get them there?" Stiles frowned, rubbing the back of his neck, it had been tricky enough just to get the carriages made- although they had borrowed a few from Paige and Alisha- but they couldn't very well ride into battle in carriages... "We'll be fine, there's an abundance of mice and geckos here, it will only take me a few minutes to change them," she hummed back, nearly skipping towards the garden, "That's... just perfect," Stiles muttered back, perking suddenly and grinning as he ran towards the fence, "Isabella!!" he cried as he nuzzled the horse, "Oh I missed you," he cooed, grinning brightly, Derek took a breath, this was his chance, really sort of his only chance if he wanted to do this before they put their lives on the line... he took a step forward, rings in his pocket, but paused when Scott jumped in front of him and tapped Stiles on the shoulder, "Oh hey man, have you met my beauty here?" Stiles smiled, Scott gave an awkward nod and pulled him away, much to Derek's displeasure, but the werewolf figured he could do it... some other time or so... and decided to go help his sisters with whatever they were trying to do, "Stiles, I need to talk to you about something," he said seriously, Stiles nodded slowly, "Yeah, what's up?" Scott took a deep breath, twitching his fingers anxiously and deciding the best thing to do would just be to blurt it out, "Stiles... you're my brother," he said slowly, flinching as he waited for a reaction, Stiles just smiled though, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him into a loose hug, "Aww Scott... you're my brother too," he cooed adoringly, "N-No.. no no..." Scott said, pushing him back, much to the witch's confusion, "I mean... you're _really_ my brother.... we share blood," he explained, Stiles stared at him for a moment, realization slowly dawning on him, "I don't... how-" "It's a long story, trust me, we don't have time but... our moms knew eachother, and ... I don't know, magic stuff happened and ... my mom is actually your mom and ... we're twins, but your mom sorta ... um... took... you... and ... so..." "My mom took me away from your mom, who is in actuality my mom?" Stiles asked slowly, a disbelieving tone to his voice, "Yeah... sorta? I don't really understand how it happened but... yeah, look all I know for sure is that you're my brother Stiles, and I'm going to make sure you're treated like it... I mean.. as long as you're ok with being my brother? We're twins, and... I know it's against everyone's advice but the throne is every bit your's as it is mine and I'm not..." he took another breath, shoulders shaking, "Oh Scott..." Stiles said softly, dragging him into another hug, "Scott... precious cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure, look at you, trying to give me a throne you don't even have because ... because ...." he couldn't say it, he just couldn't say it... "Because you're my brother Stiles," Scott said for him, Stiles nodded quickly, holding onto him tighter, "Yeah... you're my brother too Scott," he said softly, pulling away and tilting Scott's chin up to look at him, "I don't want your throne, no offense but I don't even like having the weight of being a magical prophet thingy, no way in hell I want to be royalty.... but if you want to maybe give Derek, you know, a home..." "We'll work something out, you can still live at the palace and not be royalty, it's ok, you-" "Scott," he interrupted, smiling gently at the nervous looking human in front of him, "I'm sure we'll work it out, we'll talk about it when we don't have to go charge into battle like a bunch of imbeciles," he said with a small smirk, Scott smiled back at him nervously and nodded his approval, gripping his hand tightly, "You stay behind me ok? God only knows what the hunters have up their sleeves and if Allison is right about her aunt being a lamia.... terrible creatures really, so just-" "Stiles," he interrupted, placing a hand on Stiles' shoulder and squeezing it slightly, "I appreciate that, really I do... but I'm going to have enough people trying to protect me, and all I want to do is fight beside you, ok?" Stiles smiled slightly and nodded, "You and Derek, birds of a feather, ok, yeah, better go check up on Wolfman, see if Lydia has tried to turn _him_ into a horse too yet," he teased, Scott smiled, his cheerfullness having returned as he dashed off to find Derek and Lydia, Stiles sucked in a breath through his nose and held it for a moment, not exhaling until he turned the corner and approached his father, "Dad?" he called quietly, the sheriff turned around, rag in one hand and gun in the other, "Hey son... Scott tell you the big news?" "Yep, congrats, it's a boy," Stiles snorted as he walked forward, leaning against some logs behind him as he watched his father clean the gun, "I'm sorry kid, I really had no idea... I ... I mean I should have I jus-" "Dad," he interrupted, "I promise, it's ok, I'm not... I'm not looking for an apology or ... God I don't know," he muttered, dragging his hands down his face in exhaustion, "I'm glad things turned out the way they did, I mean me as royalty? Come on, this country would be in the trash by the time I was five," he teased, "Come on now Son you're not that bad," he said, dropping the rag and continuing, "I'm thinking more like the age of six," Stiles just laughed, coming to sit next to him and shaking his head, "No but really... I'm glad, I got to have the best dad in the world and that's pretty great," he smiled, the sheriff stared at him, putting his gun in it's holster, "Alright son, what do you want?" "What? Nothing! God I can't even pay you a compliment without you getting suspicious? What a world we live in," "Yeah what a world we live in, now what do you want?" there was silence for a moment before Stiles turned to face him a little more directly, "I'm not bringing a gun to a witch fight Dad," he said softly, John just sighed, glancing at his gun and frowning, "Well that's too bad, a gun's all I've got and I'm not sending you in there alone," "Dad I am NOT alone, for the first time in a really long time I am really sincerely not alone," he protested, "Stiles-" "Dad please, listen to me, I can't lose you ok? I can't.... don't make me try to live with ... please..." he pleaded, "Stiles... if I'm not mistaken, aren't the witches on our side?" "Well yeah bu-" "But nothing, I'm going with you even if I have to get there on my own, don't make me do that Stiles, I would really not look good arriving in a carriage," he snorted, Stiles sighed loudly, hanging his head and groaning, "You people are going to be the death of me, I just know it..."

~+~

"Alright, they aren't expecting us... that's good, very good," Stiles sighed, tilting his head back as he tried to get a clearer grasp on the vision, "I think our best bet is to go in from the left, have Danny send a distraction to the right and get most of their guards lined up there, send the soldiers to the right and we'll all go in from the left, get Scott in front- .. as much as I hate that... and he'll be able to get us into the palace, our goal here is to over take the king," Stiles explained, Derek nodded slowly, listening to every word and turning to the butterfly perched on his finger, "You hear all that?" he asked rhetorically, nudging the bundle of magic out through the window of the carriage and watching as it flew towards Lydia to relay the message, "Do you really think getting in is going to be that easy?" "If we stick to my plan it should be, yeah, pretty much," Stiles shrugged back, glancing out the window as well and seeing Lydia's nod of approval, "Ok, time to get Danny to manhandle this thing over to the right, we'll take Isabella and head left with the others," he said, putting a hand on the door, "Wait," Derek said quickly, grabbing his wrist, "Derek, we don't have time fo-" "Just-..." he held his breath, holding out the ring box, Stiles stared at it for a moment, maybe a moment too long, before breaking into a grin and grabbing the ring, slipping it on and pulling Derek in for a quick kiss, "I love you," he said softly, not letting go of the werewolf for a second longer than usual before finally pulling away, "I love you too," Derek said softly, slipping on his own ring as Stiles pushed the door open and they both stepped out of the carriage, Isabella already waiting for them outside, "Alright... let's get this over with,"

~+~

It was actually a little bit (more than a little bit) stunning how quiet so many people could be if given a reason, and considering that they had all gotten into the palace unnoticed, Stiles figured that yes, the reason was strong enough to actually enforce silence on over twenty people, either that... or they were about to walk into an ambush... wich was exactly why he was in front, relying on his new power to direct him, the moment he got to the door of the throne room he paused, hand outstretched, as he listened to one of the voices he could hear, _"Wait! ... Open the door and step behind it, then throw a dagger,"_ the spirit directed, Stiles nodded, gesturing for everyone to disperse as he grabbed a blade from his pocket and did exactly as instructed, hiding quickly behind the door and feeling his heart leap when a dagger was thrown from inside the room and brushed past the doors, landing in the wall, Stiles quickly moved out from behind the door and tossed his own blade, flinching when he heard it make contact and jumping out fully, the amount of people.... it was absolutely astonishing, it seemed that most of them were hunters, but at this point there were also several guards and nights still there as well, everyone was still, absolutely and sickening still, until Stiles gave the command and all hell broke loose, it was honestly difficult to keep track of where everyone went and who was fighting who due to the sheer amount of anarchy, blades clashed, guns fired, roars and howls and growls filled the air, but Stiles was just looking for one person... the king.... he charged right in, not wasting another moment, and started running and dodging past battle after battle as he started on his way to the king, he was getting close too and he wondered for the breifest moment if perhaps they actually had the king outnumbered (well, internally anyway) when, in that moment- ofcourse- things changed, he felt a hand on his shoulder and spun around quickly, another dagger drawn as he stared into an unfamiliar set of blue eyes, and yet.... somehow he knew exactly who she was, "Hello Kate," he said with a sarcastic bite, "Stiles, I'm surprised you recognized me," she hummed, "Yeah well you're about to be surprised by alot of things," he growled, swinging the blade upwards, only for Kate to leap back and pop her neck, "Really? You brought a nife to a magic fight?" she snorted, Stiles listened for the breifest moment before tossing the blade behind him, not even looking, and hearing Malia's surprised yelp as the man she had been fighting went down with a nife in the back of his head, "What were you saying?" Stiles smirked, Kate, for a moment atleast, looked mildly disturbed, but soon replaced it with her usual sickening grin, "Well well, aren't we talented?" she hummed, flexing her nails as she started to saunter forward, "How different are we real-" "REALLY different," he said quickly, not wanting to risk falling for one of her games, "Talented is one word for it.... Ascended is another," he shrugged, this time it was unmistakable when Kate's face shifted into one of fear, "Ascended?" she breathed, he smirked, nodding slowly, "You got it _Baby_ ," he grinned, summoning a ball of fire in his palm and starting to saunter forward, Kate hissed, her fangs popping out as her eyes shifted gold and scales began to appear on her body, "What's wrong? You don't like fire?" he grinned, tossing the flame at her and feeling a surge of energy pulse through him at the adrenaline pumping in his veins, "I'm not even going to waste my sword on you," he breathed wickedly, "Don't be so arrogant, it'll be your undoing," she sneered as she lunged forward, Stiles ducked underneath her and bent backwards as his spine arched, quickly punching upwards and into her gut, she gasped and squirmed away but was still upright and glaring, it was completely to his advantage that she hadn't learned to navigate her new body yet, he stood up, gesturing her forward as she slithered closer, making another lunge, only this time when he moved to duck beneath her the end of her tail swept beneath his feet and jerked out from under him, causing him to fall flat on his back, his heart skipped a beat as she hovered over top of him, fangs bared and aiming for his throat, but he punched upwards instantly and collided with her chest, wrapping his legs around her waist and twisting her off balance before summoning another ball of fire and jamming it against her chest, making her scream as he finally managed to roll on top of her, he took a breath and took the chain from his pant leg, eyes hard as he twirled it above his head in a spinning fan, as soon as Kate had gotten the flames dissipated and risen again he swung the chain forward, wrapping it around her neck, she hissed louder, pulling against the chain as Stiles swung himself behind her and jerked harder, hearing a strangling sound as he stepped on the tip of her tail- mostly just for good measure, her tail however was thrusting and twisting wildly, trying to nock him off his feet, and he knew he was going to have to move out of the way- and thus drop the chain- in order to avoid being pinned again, in a quick motion he jumped away and yanked on the end of the chain, sending her half-way towards the ground before she could finally loosen the chain from her neck and dispose of it, Stiles popped his neck and grabbed another blade from his sleeve as he lunged forward and slashed across her arm, inhaling deeply and muttering a spell under his breath to channel lightening into the blade as he spun on his heel and hit her square in the jaw, Kate just hissed louder, reaching for the gun strapped to her hip and allowing Stiles the chance to slam his blade into her stomach, a scream ripping out of her as the electric charge swam through her, he panted, yanking the dagger back and allowing it to fall to the floor as he grabbed the discarded chain and wrapped it once quickly around her wrists, slamming her back into the ground and criss-crossing the chain across her so he could hold her restrained to the ground by the ends of the chains, "Look at this, a lamia," he breathed, summoning another ball of fire to his palm, "No one will ever love you... isn't that what you used to say?" he breathed, watching fear over take her eyes as he dropped the fire onto her and jumped back before it could spread to him, her screams echoing around him as he stepped back, "Burn witch burn..." he breathed, hearing a howl behind him and drawing his sword as he raced towards it

It hadn't taken much longer at that point to see his side starting to pick up the advantage, and as soon as he saw the evidence of that he turned on his heel again and sprinted towards the king, sword drawn as he did, the king was already on his feet, a thick sword held in his hand much different than the slender katana that Stiles was weilding, "You and I have some bad blood between us Kingy Wingy," Stiles grinned as he stepped closer, "Do we now? Do you even know my name?" he asked with a smirk, "I didn't think you had to know someone's name as a precursor to killing them," Stiles shrugged back, the two circling eachother like sharks, each waiting on the other to make a move, "Killing huh? You really think that will solve all your problems? I hate to tell you this, but I'm far from the only person in this knigdom who hates you _abominations_ ," he said, raising his sword, "No, but with Scott on the throne we can deal with that, besides, aren't you the one who had to hire an _abomination_ to have your son?" the shock on the king's face was the opening Stiles needed to swing his blade forward and the older man barely had time to react and stop it from slicing into him, Stiles wasn't actually sure how his mother and Scott's mother were acquainted, or how he was Scott's twin and yet he was clearly the only one with magic, but he assumed that had to be it, he had read of spells and potions that that would apply to it and it was all he could figure to make sense, judging by the shock on the king's face it seemed that he would have gotten it close enough, the sounds of swords clanging together echoed the throne room even louder than before as Stiles and the king slashed vigorously at eachother, "You're a witch aren't you? Where's the magic?" he smirked, "I don't like using my magic against humans, it's what keeps me light," Stiles grumbled back, ducking beneath the king's blade and shoving his upwards, trying to disarm him, "Light? I hope you don't mean light on your feet," he said with a hum, pulling his arms upwards and aiming his blade down, giving Stiles barely a chance to roll out of the way, "I may be at a disadvantage for being human, but there are some things only experience will teach you," he said, turning and hitting Stiles in the face with the hilt of his sword, causing the witch to gasp and stumble backwards as pain radiated throughout his eye, his head pounding and his vision becoming blurry, luckily his Ascension helped channel his magic into seeing clearly and he was able to dodge out of the way of the next attack with only a small cut on his arm to show for it, "Don't get so relaxed Your Highness, I have more tricks up my sleeve," he said with a smirk as he spun the katana in one hand and reached into his shirt to pull out a few throwing blades, "Silly rabbit," the king breathed, "Tricks are for kids," Stiles smirked, tossing the blades and using the opening to spin closer and aim his blade for the king's back, cursing wen he managed to duck just out of the way and block with the tip of his own blade, however, getting the king below him was an advantage as well and he jammed his nee upwards, causing it to collide with the back of his head and forcing a stutter from the hold the king had on his blade, Stiles grinned, sweeping his blade beneath the king's and swinging upwards, disarming him with some difficulty and jamming his sword down into the corner of his shirt to keep him in place as he pulled him to his feet and positioned the blade of his sword against his throat, "Time to spill this bad blood and start fresh," he breathed, jerking his wrist as he prepared to slash through the king's throat but being forced to pause when he heard a heart stopping scream from across the room, in fact, that seemed to make everyone stop, no matter who they were or what side they were on, they all looked up to see the prince that they were fighting over, clutching his shoulder as blood poured out of it, and the one behind him, covered in Scott's blood... was Derek....

He felt sick, quite honestly, absolutely sick to his stomach, ofcourse... ofcourse it would figure... the first time he had ever given the bite to someone... ofcourse it would be in this situation.... he felt tears prick at his eyes as the realization of what he had done came to him and he reached out, hands shaking, "S-Scott... I... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." he breathed, he hadn't seven seen it coming, he had been aiming for the red-haired huntress in front of him and all of a sudden Scott was nocked back into the fray and someone had bumped into Derek's foot and when he aimed for the red-head's neck Scott was suddenly there and his teeth had sunken into the prince's shoulder before he even had a chance... "Scott?" he breathed, the prince coughed, stumbling and holding his shoulder as he fell to his nees, "Scott..." Derek stuttered, entire body shaking as he took a step forward, he didn't have time to do much else, Allison quickly abandoning her bow and the hunter she had been dueling with and running towards them, "SCOTT!!" she screamed, sliding across the floor onto her nees and pulling him upwards, "Scott? Scott can you hear me!?" she shouted urgently, Scott coughed and nodded slowly, looking up at her and shivering terribly as he laid his head back on her lap, "Scott? Can you answer me?" "A-A... Alli.... son...." he panted, groaning in pain and pulling his hand away as he noticed specks of black starting to taint the blood, Allison stared up at Derek, eyes showing the fear she felt, "SCOTT!!" Stiles screamed, sword long abandoned on the floor as he raced towards his brother and nelt on his other side, "Stiles I didn't... I didn'-" "I know, don't apologize, just help me with this," Stiles said quickly, Derek nodded numbly, features shifting back to normal as he nelt besides Stiles, who was peeling Scott's shirt aside despite the agonizing screams coming from the human, "I know..I know it hurts man, just hold on," he breathed, it seemed that the sudden crisis with the prince had put all of the fighting on hold for now as no one even attempted to pick up their weapon, all watching in horror as they waited to see how fate would decide to end this war, "Can't you heal this or something!?" Allison asked desperately, "Not a werewolf bite... not a werewolf bite on a human..." Derek replied quietly, "Not even Lydia?" Allison asked quietly, Lydia shook her head, biting her lip, "I wish I had some Pixie Dust..." she replied quietly, Allison's eyes started to burn with tears as Scott's blood continued to get blacker and thicker, pouring out more like an ichor at this point than actual blood, "What's happening to him? Why is he rejecting the bite?" Erica asked quietly from the sidelines, "I don't understand, Scott is one of the strongest people here, if anyone can survive this he can," Kira added, "It's the magic..." Stiles muttered back, "Magic?" Derek asked quietly, Stiles nodded slowly, "Hybrids are a tricky sort of thing, there's no such thing as a witch/werewolf hybrid and there's a reason for that... witch blood won't handle the werewolf bite," "And Scott has witch blood..." Derek said quietly, Stiles having told him the situation in the carriage, "Yeah... basically, not all werewolf bites do this but when they start trying to turn someone-" "Right," "So... so what? There's nothing you can do!?" Allison screamed, Stiles shook his head, leaning back and closing his eyes, trying to channel some information, any information, "What-" she began to ask, only for Derek to shake his head, the entire room was deadly silent save for the shaking of Scott's breathing as he tried his best not to scream in pain, Stiles took a deep breath and opened his eyes, "Did you-.... did the spirits-" "It might work," Stiles replied vaguely, taking Scott's hand and giving it a tight squeeze, "Stiles?" he asked wearily, Stiles nodded slowly, "Hey.... this is gonna hurt ok? Like... alot.... just... please, please hold on tight and don't let yourself fade ok? Please... just hold on for me," he said quietly, Scott blinked slowly, "It well may be that we won't meet again, in this lifetime-" "Don't.." "So let me say...-" "Scott shut up!" "Whatever way our stories end.... I know you've rewritten mine-" "Scott!" "Because I knew you.... Stiles.... I've been chang-" "Scott, STOP," he nearly shouted, green light suddenly bursting from his fingertips, Derek and Allison jumped in surprise and leaned back, the green sparks of energy flowing over his hands and all throughout the outline of his body, sparking, shocking, and discharging sparks as his eyes were swallowed up by the bright green, "Because I knew you, I've been change for good," Stiles breathed, clasping a hand over Scott's shoulder, the human screamed in pain as Stiles squeezed harder, the green energy flowing into him, "I don't want to hear it, I don't want to know... I do know, already... because I can tell you the same, you've left a handprint on my heart... and all that other crap... but I don't want to hear you SAY it, hold it in Scott, breathe in, this isn't over yet, we aren't letting this end yet," he breathed, the energy skimming off of him and slithering down his arm and into his hand, Scott screamed louder and Stiles cringed, gasping and screaming as well as his hand started to burn, "Stiles!" Derek shouted, reaching out to brace him, "DON'T!" Stiles warned, forcing Derek to draw his hand back, "Don't touch me, it'll hurt you," he warned, gasping and groaning as the energy finally schiphened off of him, all of it flooding into Scott's wound, the skin started to stitch it's self back together and he panted, falling backwards and into Derek's arms, "Stiles?" he asked worriedly, Stiles shook his head, watching with held breath as Scott laid deathly still, and within a moment, he gasped, sitting straight up as his eyes glowed beta gold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, when I originally decided to make this title "For Good" (one of the first decisions I made on the fic) Derek was the one who almost died in Stiles' arms, but I felt like this was much more appropriate and it made alot more sense too
> 
> Another fun fact, the "Silly rabbit" thing is taken straight from Kill Bill, since I was doing a Reverse Bang that will be posted later this month at the same time as this fic and it's a Teen Wolf/Kill Bill AU, I may have decided to put it in and just go with it


	30. Epilogue: Happily Ever After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, there was a witch who met a werewolf, and change both their lives forever...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter guys! I think this is the longest fic I've ever done, that or the second longest, it would've been better if I had taken more time with it but I actually changed my idea for it after already starting the peice I was going to originally do for the Big Bang so I ended up not having as much time, regardless it was an idea that I'm really glad bloomed as big as it did, I don't think it would have worked condensed at all

**Three months later...**

_"Little town, it's a quiet village, every day like the one before, little town, full of little people, waking up to say-"_ "Shut up Stiles!" Stiles pouted and turned around, "Oh Derek that's just rude," he huffed, Derek groaned and pulled the sheets over his head, "Turn off the sun.... Goddess.... please turn off the sun..." he grumbled, Stiles just grinned, leaving the balcony doors wide open as he jumped onto the bed and tackled Derek, nipping at his neck and running his fingers through his hair, "Cheer up Sourwolf, don't you remember what today is?" he hummed, Derek grinned into the pillow, flipping suddenly and making Stiles yelp as he pulled him down and smothered a kiss onto his lips, looking like a child on Christmas morning as he sat up, "What on earth are you doing singing at a window for?" he breathed, nearly tossing the witch off of him as he jumped up and started racing to grab his clothes, Stiles just wistled and cat-called teasingly at every bare inch of skin to enter his sight, "Get DRESSED Stiles!" Derek huffed, tossing a shirt at Stiles' head, "Oh my God you are the cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire life," he laughed as he got out of bed, "You won't be saying that much longer," Derek hummed, rushing into the bathroom with his clothes half pulled on, Stiles just laughed, collapsing backwards onto the bed and taking a breath of happiness as he waited for Derek to calm down- even just a pinch would do

~+~

"Paige would like to set up a meeting with you tommorrow," Melissa hummed as she looked through the pappers in her hands, "Tommorrow?" Scott cringed, rubbing the back of his neck, "I think I'm packed tommorrow... when is the meeting with the duchess from the next kingdom over?" he asked, "Today," Scott cringed more, "Ok.. then... can we move my meeting with the general to the day after tommorrow? Tonight is the full moon so-" "Already done," she smiled as she scribbled down a note of it, "Busy as always Scotty?" Scott jumped at the voice and perked immediately, "Stiles!! Save me from political hell," he begged with a cringe plastered to his face, Stiles snickered, brushing back the hood of his red cloak, "You know you signed up for this," Scott sputtered, looking offended, "No I didn't! I asked you to help me and you were all 'no thanks man I'm gonna go run a bakery in the woods with Derek and have a bunch of babies'! Don't blame ME for this!" Stiles laughed and shook his head, "I'm just saying, when you left with us that night-" "Don't even remind me," Scott groaned, glancing up and smiling more when Derek pushed back the hood of his own red cloak, "Hey Derek! Those concealment cloaks working I see?" the werewolf gave him a nod, "No one stopped us to pester Stiles, has to be it," he muttered back, holding a basket out towards him, "I brought more fresh cookies for you," he said, Scott just looked absolutely elated, sprinting from the throne to grab the basket, "Thanks Little Red Riding Hood!" he hummed, Derek frowned deeply as Stiles snickered, "I swear if you call me that ONE more time I'm never baking anything for you again," he threatened, "Aww... don't do that..." Scott mumbled, two cookies already shoved into his mouth, Derek shook his head slowly, pointing at him off-handedly, "Our king, lord and master everyone," he said sarcastically, Stiles laughed so hard he doubled over and seeing Stiles laugh like that made Scott choke on his own laughter, "Well I'm glad to see that world affairs hasn't stopped you three from enjoying yourselves," Allison hummed as she waltzed into the room from a door on the other side, Scott swallowed as much as he could and held the basket out, "Cookie, Honey?" he smiled, Allison twitched her lips, trying- and positively failing- to keep herself from smiling as she plucked a cookie from the basket, "I, unlike apparently the three of you, have matters to take care of, there are some rogue hunters in the East that I need to go handle," she said, Scott blinked, tilting his head like a puppy, "You're taking Lydia right?" "And Parrish," she nodded, "Is Cora going with you?" Derek asked, Allison nodded as she bit into the cookie, "Laura is hanging back this time for some reason or other," "'Some reason or other'?" Stiles snorted, clearly offended, Allison paused mid-bite, eyes going wide, _"Ohhhhhhh!!!_ she cried with realization, "Today is the day huh?" she smiled, "The first of what we can only hope is many," Stiles grinned, "...Aren't I supposed to be the werewolf in this relationship?" Derek teased with a serious face, Stiles just laughed, wrapping an arm around him, "You and Scott have GOT to get engaged, how will our children ever have best freinds forever if you two don't hurry along? C'mon Ally A, get with the program," he teased, Allison just laughed and shook her head, "I'll tell you what, when we're no longer facing mass murders _every_ day, I'll consider it," she said as she kissed Scott on the cheek and went about her way, the second she was out of the room Stiles grinned, "You gonna show me the ring or what?" Scott blushed and looked at the ground shyly, "I-I will, as soon as I get it back from the craftsman... I'm getting Allison's birthstone put in it," he said with a smile, "Wooow... well you two are just so cute I could puke," Stiles snorted, "Speaking of cute things and puke, we need to get going," he hummed as he looked up at Derek, "You're going to make parenthood such a blast," Derek said with a sarcastically sweet tone, "You too Big Bad Wolf," he hummed, pulling the hood of his cloak up, "We'll bring the new babies over before the moon rises," Derek said as he pulled his head up too, "I can't wait to see them! Are we meeting at the bakery for the full moon run?" Scott asked, "Just like every month Scott," Derek nodded, "Just making sure," Scott smiled, waving as the two of them headed out of the throne room, out of the palace, and out of the inner city

~+~

"I'm so excited, it's been WAY too long since we've even BEEN here," Stiles hummed as he ran through the woods, "I know, much too long, although with all the time they spend in the open now it doesn't make too much difference," Derek mused as he followed and stared down at the foxhole, Stiles jumped down first, with Derek following behind him, after all this time they had become rather adept at jumping into the foxhole, in fact, world jumping in general had become a pretty big talent of their's, they traveled more than they wanted to but Stiles' Ascension had made it necessary on several occasions, and they couldn't deny that it was fun to explore other realms, they had spent the last three months cleaning up the damage after having the king imprisoned and Scott taking over, trying to keep their pact up with Paige had been one thing, and then it was hearing from the faeries in Neverland about Pan, there was also the trouble of going back and forth in Halloweentown, among other things... atleast Scott's efforts in helping them take the kingdom back had removed the curse from his family and prevented Stiles from even having to worry about it so that was a plus, and now that things had finally slowed down enough for the two of them to get married over the last full moon, they decided to pull the breaks on as much running around as they could, the ultimate goal was just to have quiet lives in the woods near the palace with their kids and the newly restored bakery, but they also knew that was never going to be entirely possible due to Stiles' Ascension and their connection with the king, they were prepared for it, not entirely happy about it but prepared for it, "Kira!! Do you have our babies?" Stiles called, "Shh, they're sleeping," Malia hissed from around the corner, "Well hello to you too," Stiles teased as he peaked around the corner and nearly started jumping, "These two... I think they knew you were coming for them," Kira said with a small laugh as she handed each of them a child, "Twins?" Stiles breathed, "That's what I said the first, third, and thirteenth time you've asked, so yes... twins," Kira confirmed with a smile, "Are they werewolves?" Stiles asked, Kira nodded again, "Yeah, both werewolves, we don't get many orphaned witches surprisingly- I mean.. that's a good thing obviously! Just-" "It's fine, we get it," Derek smiled as he hugged the baby closer, "You two going to be ok getting back out of here?" Kira asked, "Yeah we're fine," Stiles hummed, cooing down at the baby in his arms as well, "I can't wait until you two get settled with those so you can start taking some of the other kids, Kira and I never get to be alone," Malia mused from the sidelines, "Malia!" Kira cried, "What? It's true, I mean we'll keep like... two right?" "I think she's teasing you Kira," Stiles chuckled, "I wouldn't be too sure about that..." Derek muttered back, "Have you thought of names yet?" Kira asked with a happy smile, Stiles and Derek exchanged glances and nodded slowly, "Yeah we have," "Luna and Zelene," Derek hummed softly, "Oh.. Moon and Sun... how cute!" Kira cried, waving her hands excitedly, "Well I'll see you both -and Luna and Zelene- later, I know you want to get back home and show them around, I'll see you at the run tonight right?" she smiled, "Ofcourse," Stiles smiled back, "Laura will kill us if we don't show her and the sheriff first though," Derek mused, "Oh! Yeah yeah go on! Just... oh I'm just so happy for you both!" Kira cried, "Thanks Kira," Stiles laughed, giving her an appreciative nod as he and Derek started to walk away, towards the exit of the foxhole, "So um... wich one is Luna and wich one is Zelene?" Stiles grinned, "Mine is Luna," Derek shrugged, "Huh? Why?" "Because I'm the werewolf," "Well I'm a _Witch_ , and weren't you just saying that I should've been a werewolf because I- and I quote- 'rise with the moon'? And I don't think you were trying to be as dirty as that was bu-" "Then I'll take Zelene and your's is Luna," he shrugged, Stiles hummed, looking at the little girl and wrinkling his nose, "Nah you take Luna, I think this one looks more like a Zelene," "Oh my God Stiles," Derek laughed softly as they left the foxhole and started to walk towards the bakery, Stiles just hummed and kissed his cheek adoringly, yes there were still many problems and worries, they still had to round up Peter and his band of rowdy misfits for example, but for now.. for this day and this moment... for the first time in forever... they were actually free to breathe and just enjoy something good in life without worrying about what would come next, it was the most exciting, sort of frightening, and wonderfull feeling in the world, now some may call this the end of the story, but here's the funny thing about fairytales, there's never actually an end, for each end, is just an entirely new beginning

_Once upon a time....._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the end guys! To anyone who's stuck it through this long **THANK YOU** , I hope you enjoyed Tourner Dans Le Vide, and I hope you'll stick around to see what other rabbits I pull out of my hat!
> 
> P.S. Gotta love a singing Stiles, and "Little Town" (AKA "Belle") https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx1MmY1Bb50

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Art for] Tourner Dans Le Vide by AsagiStilinski](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4320084) by [writerdragonfly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerdragonfly/pseuds/writerdragonfly)




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